Depths of Darkness
by bluewolf963
Summary: Naruto, betrayed by his village, lashes out against those who tried to kill him. Seeking aid from Akatsuki, will Naruto be able to get the other jinchuuriki under the banner of his revenge, or will Akatsuki betray him? Rated M for language, possible lemon
1. Descent

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, the Akatsuki would have more screen time_

**Chapter 1: Descent**

A young child was running down the street, pursued by a mob of the other members of his village. The boy was five years old, wearing worn out shorts and and torn shirt with a spiral on the front and back. The boy had blue eyes and bright blond hair. His cheeks held unique whisker marks. The child's painful past led the boy to have a pained expression crossing his face, a pained expression of confusion and fear, as he continued to run through the village streets. The group ran by several villagers. Everyone knew the identity of the boy, his past, and the reasons behind it. As such, none of the villagers attempted to aid the boy. They allowed the villagers to continue their chase. Some of the villagers joined in, grabbing whatever weapons they could find.

"Die, demon!" shouted one of the men leading the group. This man, along with many others leading the crowd, had red eyes with a three part tomoe seal. The group continued running on, being led by the child through the streets of their village, Konohagakure no Sato. The boy made a wrong turn, and ended up leading the crowd down a dead end.

"We have him cornered now!" shouted one of the villagers.

"Let's get him before the ANBU show themselves again!" shouted another one of the villagers.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! _(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)_" shouted one of the leaders of the group. This man was an older person, wearing the standard jonin outfit of Konoha, with one difference. Instead of the red spiral on his shoulders, there was a fan embedded within a blue star.

The boy cowered in fear, staring at the fireball roaring towards him. The boy could do nothing but cry out as the fireball struck. The boy screamed out in pain as he felt his skin being burned. The fire started to die down. The boy was still alive, though he was badly burned. His already torn shirt was burned away, exposing the boys stomach. A strange symbol appeared on the boys stomach. Another member of the group pulled out a kunai, and threw it at the child, aiming to hit the spiral-like seal as if it was some kind of target. The boy winced as the weapon hit its mark.

"Aw, I missed the center," spoke the man who threw the weapon.

"Heh heh, let me try," spoke a kunoichi, as she pulled out three shuriken. She threw all three at once. One bounced off the kunai the other man threw. One hit above the seal, while the other hit the seal dead center.

"Hah! I got him! See, that's how you do it!" shouted the kunoichi.

"Oh come on, we try to hit that every time. Let's make a new target!" shouted one of the men with red eyes. He walked up to the boy, while channeling his chakra into his finger. The child pulled out the kunai embedded within his stomach, and lashed out against the man, barely missing the man's leg.

"You little bastard!" shouted the man, as he slapped the child across the face. The man placed his finger on the boys chest and etched 魔 _(demon, evil spirit)_ on his body. The man picked up the kunai, and walked back to join the others.

"How fitting. I'm first!" shouted one man, as he threw a kunai. His blade missed and hit the boy in his shoulder.

"Bah, you're aim is miserable," spoke the kunoichi from before.

"I made the mark, let me try to hit it," spoke the man who marked the child. The man hit his mark with the kunai he took from the child. At this point, the child was a bloody mess. Blood trickled out of his mouth to join the blood staining his body. The child pulled the weapons out of his body, and attempted to throw them at those attacking him. Unfortunately, the child's strength had already been taken from him from his injuries, leaving him unable to throw the weapons very far. The farthest any of the weapons went was at the feet of the leader of the group. The man looked down and picked up the weapon.

"It seems the demon still has some fight left in him. Let's go. We'll resume tomorrow night," spoke the man, as he threw the weapon at the boys right shoulder. The group started walking off, with the exception of one man.

"Heh heh, Fugaku may be done with you, but I've just begun," spoke the man, as he pulled out a small dagger. He approached the child, and pulled out the shuriken before the boy could use it against him.

"I'm going to have some fun with you," spoke the man, as he slid the edge of the dagger across the child's face, drawing blood.

"St... stop..." muttered the child.

"Shut up!!" shouted the man, as he punched the child in the face, giving the child a black eye. The man smiled a devilish grin as he bent down. He unzipped his pants, and motioned towards the boy.

"You better do what I tell you, or I'll carve out your throat!" shouted the man, as he pulled out his member, and thrust it in the boys face.

"If you try to bite, I'll send this straight into your skull! Now open your mouth!" shouted the man.

The child began to shake in fear. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life many times before, but the villagers always stopped shy of killing him. There would be people who would take him to the hospital, if only to get him out of the street, so they no longer had to look at the child. The people at the hospital would treat the child only to the point where his life was in no danger, then they would throw him out to the streets he came from. No one had gone this far before, directly threatening his life, motioning to rape him. The boy trembled more, clamping his mouth shut.

"I said open your mouth!" shouted the man, as he punched the child in the gut, near one of his earlier wounds. The child refused to scream out in pain, knowing what would happen if he were to open his mouth. The child knew the man would try to kill him if he kept up his resistance. At this point, the child would rather die than continue to put up with such treatment from his village. The child had no idea why he had to suffer as he did. He didn't recall committing any crime demanding such treatment. All he knew was that he was treated like this repeatedly. The worst of these beatings always came on his birthday, this day. The child wondered why he didn't have parents to protect him, always hoping that they could one day come back from some long mission. Now, however, the child felt as though this day would never come. He closed his eyes as he felt the man plunge his dagger into his shoulder. The boy could feel himself getting faint from blood loss, and passed out.

It was then the boy opened his eyes to a strange sewer system. It appeared dank and dark, like the sewers of his village he used to hide in. The boy felt a tugging on his body, like someone or something was drawing him towards it. The child decided to give into it, and followed this feeling. He walked along through the sewer corridor until he ran into a cage. The cage had a slip of paper on it that appeared to act as a kind of lock. 封 _(seal)_ was written on the slip of paper. The child stared at the cage, wondering what lie within. As if answering his question, a pair of gigantic, red slitted eyes appeared before the young child.

"Child, you feel great pain, do you not?" asked the creature before the child.

"I... I... do..." stuttered the child, "W-who are y-you?"

"Who am I? I am known as Kyuubi no Youko," replied the creature.

"W-where am... I?" asked the child.

"We are within your mind scape, child. This is a representation of your chakra pathways. This is where the seal holding me is located," replied the creature.

"H-how did you g-get here?"

"The man known to you as the Yondaime Hokage placed me here."

The boy stepped back, aware of the reality of his situation. He knew of the story of the kyuubi's attack on Konoha, and was frightened of the fox.

"You fear me, child?" asked the creature.

The boy could only nod in response.

"Very well, how about this?" asked the demon. The demon glowed a bright red before shrinking in form. When the demon ceased glowing, a beautiful woman stood in place of the demon. This woman was in an elegant red dress. Her bust was fairly large. She had long, red hair, with fox ears instead of human ears. Behind the woman, nine fox tails covered in red fur flowed freely. The woman had the same red slit eyes as the fox, as well as the same whisker marks the child had.

"Does this suit you better, child?" asked the demon.

The child nodded, and walked closer to the cage. He tried to get closer to this woman before him, but felt blocked.

"The seal keeps us separate, child," spoke the demon.

The child nodded in response.

"You're still scared, are you?" asked the demon.

The child nodded again.

"You need not fear me. I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to. If you die, I die. This is something I cannot allow. It is why I have appeared before you now. Now that you have found yourself in a life threatening situation, I have found a way to weaken this seal. Enough so that my power may be able to aid you. You wish to stop those attacking you, do you not?" asked the demon.

"H-hai..." replied the child.

"Good. I will give you the chance. Use my power, child, use my power," spoke the demon.

"O-okay."

"Good, now, one more thing. Child, tell me your name."

"U-Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ah, Naruto-kun. I shall take care of you. I shall take very good care of you," spoke the demon, while bearing a foxy grin.

"Leave this part to me. Watch," spoke the kyuubi.

What seemed like several minutes within Naruto's mind was only a few moments in the real world. The man attacking Naruto had his dagger embedded in Naruto's rib cage. The man smiled as he saw the boy passing out. The man pulled out his weapon and placed it back in his pocket. The man placed his hands on the child's mouth, and forced it open. Moments before the man could complete his atrocious act, the child before him snapped back to life.

"Enough..." muttered the child.

"Huh?" muttered the man.

Naruto's eyes snapped open. Instead of their normal blue, they were now red with slits.

"Enough!!" shouted Naruto, with a mature, feminine voice. A red aura appeared around the boy. Naruto looked down, and saw a shuriken lying on the ground. He picked it up, surrounded it with his chakra, and made a quick swinging motion. The man looked on in horror as that which made him a man was separated from his body.

"Ah!! You little bastard!!" shouted the man.

"Little bastard?" replied Naruto with the kyuubi's voice, "Do you know who you speak to? I am the Kyuubi no Youko. You're crimes against Uzumaki Naruto will end tonight!"

Kyuubi-Naruto saw the dagger from before, and pulled it out. He surrounded it with the red chakra leaking out of his body, and swung the blade through the man. The chakra he surrounded it with extended the range of the blade. The man fell into two bloody halves. The man desperately tried to pull himself back together before dying.

"Now, for the rest," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto. The red chakra surrounding Naruto increased and began to take the form of a one-tailed fox. Naruto's whisker marks deepened, while his teeth and finger nails became pointed. His incisors grew into fangs. The boy sniffed the air.

"I know where most of them went," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, as he took to the roof tops. The chakra surrounding him healed his injuries as he took off through the village.

The leaders of the mob returned to the place they came from, the Uchiha Compound.

"Fugaku, why do you never allow us to kill him. We should finish him off, not allow him to continue," spoke one of the men.

"There is good reason. I don't want to kill the demon while he is defenseless. I don't want to kill him until he can fight back. There's no challenge in killing one as defenseless as he was. With the ability he has to heal, it's only a matter of time before he'll be able to fight us back to some degree. The day he manages to land a blow on me is the day I'll kill him for good," explained Fugaku.

"Hey, has anyone seen where Kitasu went?" asked one of the men.

"I haven't seen him since we were with the demon," replied another of the men.

"He better not be trying to kill him," spoke Fugaku.

"Hey, Fugaku, you notice anything strange?" asked a kunoichi behind him.

"What do you mean?" asked Fugaku.

"Well, I know that our houses would be dark, since we were out. But it looks like every home in the compound is dark. I doubt everyone would turn in this early," replied the kunoichi.

"She's right. This is rather unusual," spoke one of the men.

At that moment, screaming could be heard coming from one of the buildings nearby.

"What the Hell what that!?" shouted the kunoichi.

"I don't know. Let's check it out. Come!" shouted Fugaku, as he led the group towards the building. More screams could be heard coming from inside. Fugaku broke the door down, and took a quick look around the entryway. A bloodied corpse lay on the floor to his left, while a trail of blood started going off towards his right.

"What the Hell is going on!?" shouted one of the men.

More screams could be heard coming from the back of the building. The group drew their weapons and charged towards the back of the building. What they saw upon entering the back room struck horror into the hearts of all those in the group. A man in an ANBU outfit, without his mask, stood at the center of a pile of corpses. The man had a katana in the throat of the woman before him. The woman was coughing up blood in her last moments. Her bloodied, broken face looking on with tears.

"Why..." muttered the woman.

"Because I desire to test my abilities against the strongest opponent possible. What better opponent could there be for a Uchiha, but another Uchiha?" asked the man as the woman's eyes closed. The man slid the woman off his sword, and looked on at the group.

"Oh, tou-san? You're here now, are you?" asked the man.

"Itachi!? What the Hell are you doing!?" shouted Fugaku.

"As I said to her, I am testing my skills against the best opponents I could find," replied Itachi in a cold, monotonous tone.

"You monster! You didn't even give her a chance. She was a civilian! She was defenseless!" shouted a kunoichi.

"Monster? This coming from a group of individuals who devote time to beating a five year old to within an inch of his life? I am no monster. From my perspective, it is you who are the monsters," replied Itachi.

"You've helped us before. You're a hypocrite for calling us monsters! At least we're attacking a demon. There was nothing she could have done to bring harm to anyone," spoke one of the men with Fugaku.

"Oh? It is true I've joined you in the past on your hunts against the child Naruto. However, of all the times I have been with you, did you once see me bring harm to the child?" asked Itachi.

The members of the group thought about what Itachi said. They slowly came to realize that Itachi always stayed in the back of the group, never once striking out against Naruto.

"You remember, don't you? I was merely there to observe. I wasn't convinced I had reason enough to take action against you as of yet. This clan is rotting. What was once one of the most powerful clans of the land now seeks its thrill by beating a harmless child. You may be able to convince yourselves your actions are just by saying he's a 'demon,' but in the end, you're no greater than a band of thugs, praying on the weak. You go looking for fights in the wrong places," explained Itachi.

"You're forgetting one point. You just killed a group of civilians without remorse. You said you were looking for the best opponents to challenge you, but these people presented no such challenge," spoke Fugaku.

"Ah, yes. I was about to give my reason. You're right in that these people, this woman could do no harm to me or most others. At least, not on her own. Not necessarily by her personal actions. One day, these people may have brought a child into the world with such skills that could become a threat to others. Perhaps someone who could provide a challenge that I may find myself unable to overcome. I can't allow such a person to be brought into the world. I have no desire to meet my end; I must perpetuate my existence, you see. That is the threat these people gave. As for you and the other Uchiha shinobi, it is you who will provide me with the challenge I seek. I've been looking for you. I didn't think you would be out chasing Naruto at this time. I suppose you would take advantage of so many ANBU being out on missions, just as I am. Now then, prepare yourselves," spoke Itachi, as he took a kenjutsu stance. Two of the men with Fugaku charged towards Itachi, throwing several kunai and shuriken as they charged forward. Itachi deflected the weapons thrown at him, and cut both of the men down. One lost his right arm, while the other lost his head. The man who lost his arm attempted to get out of the range of Itachi's strikes, not wishing to join his partner in death.

"Too slow," spoke Itachi, as he threw a kunai at the man. The kunai went straight through the man's right eye and out the back of his head. His body fell back in a pool of its own blood.

"I hope the rest of you provide a greater challenge than these two," spoke Itachi.

"I have just one question for you, Itachi. Did you kill Shisui?" asked Fugaku.

"He was the most difficult. The greatest challenge I've had so far," replied Itachi.

"You bastard!!" shouted a kunoichi from within the group.

"Shisui's girlfriend? Attempting to avenge him?" asked Itachi, as he held up his katana to block the attacking kunoichi's strikes.

"I will have your head for his!" shouted the kunoichi.

"You shouldn't act out of emotions as you are right now. Many have already. They were the weakest of my opponents. You should calm down before your emotions get you killed," spoke Itachi, as he knocked the woman back with a swing of his sword. The kunoichi's anger only increased at Itachi's remarks as she charged forward again, this time while making hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" shouted the woman, as she sent a large fireball towards Itachi. Itachi was forced to dodge the attack as it blew out half of the room the group was in. The kunoichi anticipated Itachi's actions, knowing there was only one way for Itachi to move, due to the wall he was up against. The woman held her katana forward, and attempted to catch Itachi off guard. Itachi realized what the kunoichi was up to before he moved out of the way of her attack, and swung his katana forward. The force he put in his swing knocked the katana out of the hands of the kunoichi. The woman had a look of fear on her face as Itachi drew close to her. The woman pulled out a kunai in an attempt to block Itachi's strikes. She was able to avoid a fatal blow, though Itachi's katana left a cut on her forehead, removing her hitai-ate. The woman's Sharingan was blazing, as was Itachi's.

"Impressive, but still not good enough," spoke Itachi, as he pulled back his katana, and engaged the woman again. The other people in the group decided to join the woman fighting Itachi, and began making hand seals.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! _(Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)_" shouted two of the shinobi with Fugaku.

Several small fireballs were launched in the direction of Itachi. He knew the attackers were attempting to draw his attention from his opponent. Itachi decided to oblige them, though not in the way they were anticipating.

"Very well, if others wish to join, I'll have to start taking this fight more seriously," spoke Itachi, as he increased his speed and strength, and slashed open the chest of the woman he was fighting. Blood sprayed out onto Itachi's katana as he jumped back from the woman to avoid the fireballs. The woman coughed up blood as a result of Itachi's attack. Due to the injury brought onto her, she was unable to avoid being hit by the fireballs meant for Itachi. The woman received several burns to her body as she fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" shouted one of the people who attacked.

"It's okay Osamu, this just means we don't have to worry about hitting anyone else this time," spoke a kunoichi.

"Ah, you're right, Onoko," replied Osamu.

"Osamu and Onoko? The 'Erai Hi Gokyoudai, _(Great Fire Siblings)_' hm?" spoke Itachi.

"That's right, Itachi. You haven't been on the council for too long, so you don't know us all that well," spoke Osamu.

"And since you've never been on a mission with us before, you know little of how we fight," spoke Onoko.

"I know of your style. Combinations of Katon no Jutsu _(Fire Release Techniques)_," replied Itachi, "I've encountered such fighting styles before. Do not think you're abilities will surprise me."

"Ah, but how many of those you fought in the past were Uchiha? Prepare yourself, Itachi," spoke Osamu.

"Help... me..." stuttered the woman from before, as she was slowly crawling back to the protection of the others. Blood splashed up as Itachi finished her off.

"I'm ready," spoke Itachi.

"Katon: Kaenhoushaki no Jutsu! _(Fire Release: Flamethrower Technique)_" shouted Onoko. A stream of fire erupted of the woman's mouth.

"Katon: Bouka no Jutsu! _(Fire Release: Spinning Fire Technique)_" shouted Osamu. A stream of fire erupted from Osamu's mouth, while being bent to flow in a spiral by chakra being released from Osamu's hands. His jutsu was aimed to meet Onoko's jutsu.

"Katon: Naraku no Tatsumaki! _(Fire Release: Hell's Tornado)_" shouted Onoko and Osamu in unison. The two jutsu combined into a fiery tornado with enough heat to ignite the debris around it. Itachi backed out of the earlier hole made in the wall to get some distance from the attack. However, the jutsu started to travel at great speed once it was fully formed. Itachi was quickly enveloped in the heated fires of the jutsu. Screams of pain could be heard coming from where Itachi was standing. The group watched at Itachi's body appeared to be torn apart by flame. When the jutsu dissipated, all that remained was a heavily burnt form that vaguely resembled Itachi.

"Too easy," spoke Osamu.

At that moment, the form before them disappeared.

"Kage bunshin!? _(Shadow Clone)_" shouted Osamu.

"Katon: Joushou Houou no Jutsu! _(Fire Release: Rising Phoenix Technique)_" shouted Itachi.

A bird made of fire tore out of the ground below Osamu. The scream of a bird could be heard as the form ripped through Osamu's body. Osamu could only scream out in pain as the fiery form set his body ablaze. As the flames from the attack died down, Itachi emerged from the ground behind Osamu, sending his katana through Osamu's burnt body. Blood streamed out of Osamu's body as Itachi stood behind the Uchiha Council member. Some of the blood was black from being burned by Itachi's attack.

"I'm not impressed," spoke Itachi, as he watched Osamu's body hit the ground. Osamu's Sharingan disappeared as life left his body.

"Die!!" shouted Onoko, "Katon: Kaenhoushaki!"

Itachi saw the attack coming, and ran around it to plunge his katana through Onoko's heart.

"I told the other one to be careful of letting one's emotions run their actions. If you refuse to learn from the mistakes of others, you will only share their fate," spoke Itachi.

"Fuck... you..." spoke Onoko, as she spit blood on Itachi's chest. Itachi pulled out a kunai and slit Onoko's throat. As she coughed up and gurgled blood, Itachi allowed her form to slide off of his katana. She struggled to hold onto life as blood poured out of her body. Her eyes looked upon Itachi, full of hate for the man who took the life of both her and her brother.

"I'll... see... you... in... Hell..." muttered Onoko. She let out one last cough before passing from the world, the disappearance of her Sharingan being evidence she had left this world.

"Everyone, attack him at once!" shouted Fugaku, as the remaining members of the group pulled out weapons, while some began making hand seals.

"Too slow," spoke Itachi, as he made hand seals faster than anyone could see.

"Katon: Bakukashouha! _(Fire Release: Exploding Fire Shock Wave)_" shouted Itachi. Fire chakra surrounded Itachi, before exploding outwards. The remains of the building the group of Uchiha were in burst into flaming debris. Those who were too close to Itachi as he performed the jutsu were torn apart into fiery chunks of flesh. Others were burned. Fugaku and some of the others were able to avoid being injured from the jutsu.

"What the Hell was that!? Where did he learn such a powerful jutsu from!?" shouted one of the shinobi in Fugaku's group.

"I have no idea. I never taught him such a jutsu," spoke Fugaku.

Fugaku and those near him watched as Itachi emerged from the flames of the building they were in before. Itachi mercilessly attacked those who were injured by his attack. His first target could barely throw a kunai before his gut was torn open, spilling organs and blood before Itachi. The next threw several shuriken, only to have them deflected by Itachi's strikes. Itachi bisected the man. The top half of the man's body fell before the bloody stump of his lower half fell on top, spilling blood on the man as his life left his body. A kunoichi attempted to get behind Itachi and stab him with a dagger. The woman ended up with Itachi's katana going through her heart. Itachi ripped his katana out of the woman's body to cut the head of the woman before him in half. Blood and the remains of her mind spilled onto the pavement at Itachi's feet. Three others attempted to gang up on Itachi, hoping their combined efforts would be enough to stop Itachi. They were all cut apart by Itachi's blade. Blood sprayed on Itachi's outfit as he went through the rest of those near him. At that point, an explosion occurred near the entrance to the Uchiha Compound.

"What the Hell was that!?" shouted one of the men next to Fugaku.

"It might be someone helping Itachi. Half of you go to the main entrance. I'll take care of Itachi!" shouted Fugaku.

Several of those with Fugaku bolted, running under the assumption that the second attacker was weaker than Itachi.

"_Who could that be?"_ Itachi thought to himself, _"_He's_ at the other end of the compound."_

Fugaku and the others noticed Itachi's look of surprise at the attack near the compound entrance, and attempted to catch him off guard.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" shouted Fugaku.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" shouted several of the others near Fugaku.

Others in Fugaku's group threw several weapons with ninja wire attached to them at the ground near Itachi.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu! _(Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)_" shouted the men who threw the weapons with ninja wire. Fire streamed towards Itachi from multiple directions. With the ninja wire down around him, Itachi had little room to move.

"Attempting to overwhelm me? A good approach, but it's still not enough," spoke Itachi, as he made a quick set of hand seals.

"Katon: Bakukashouha!" shouted Itachi. Fire chakra surrounded Itachi once again, and burst forth, deflecting the jutsu thrown at him. This time, his shock wave wasn't as powerful. Those before Itachi breathed a sigh of relief, believing Itachi to be low on chakra.

"Now's our chance," shouted those closest to Itachi, as they charged forward. Itachi looked on at those rushing him. Itachi held his katana down, not moving to block their strikes. As the men drew closer, Itachi looked both in the eye. The two before him were quickly paralyzed. They dropped their weapons and screamed out in pain, even though it appeared as though nothing was being done to them.

"It is unwise to charge recklessly at your opponent in such a manner," spoke Itachi, as he chopped off the heads of the shinobi before him.

"That's enough!" shouted another of the men. The man was angered by seeing Itachi kill one of his best friends, and also charged forward. Itachi removed both of the man's arms before impaling his heart.

"It seems you never learn. Acting on your emotions and charging in recklessly against me will get you killed," spoke Itachi. He slid the mans body off is sword, and looked on at the few who remained before him.

"I grow tired of this. So few of you have proven capable of being a challenge. This further proves my point of how this clan has been rotting. If one man can take down the entire clan, than how strong could the clan possibly be?" asked Itachi.

A civilian, observing the fight, attempted to sneak up behind Itachi, and stab a dagger into the back of Itachi's neck. Itachi quickly turned around, spilling the innards of the bulky man onto the ground behind him.

"If you wish to die faster, you need only ask. No need to come rushing in," spoke Itachi to the man. The man coughed up blood before falling to the ground. Those with Fugaku knew it would be unwise to attempt to catch Itachi off guard due to a "distraction" appearing.

"There's no one behind me this time. It seems you have learned something, or maybe the smartest are the ones left before me. There's only one way to find out," spoke Itachi, as he took an offensive stance. Itachi charged towards those remaining in the group. Fear motivated those in front. Those closest to Itachi struggled to get out of his path, rather than trying to take the Uchiha head on. Those who attempted to flee received several kunai in various parts of their bodies. Itachi made sure to aim for vital organs. Those who still moved were struck in the head with kunai. Man after man charged at Itachi in response, only to join those he already struck down. Within the next several minutes, Itachi and Fugaku were the last ones standing.

"It seems you are not named the leader of the clan without reason," spoke Itachi.

"You will pay for your crimes, Itachi," replied Fugaku, as he took a kenjutsu stance, pulling out his own katana.

Near the entryway to the Uchiha Compound, those who were fighting Itachi had arrived to see several of the buildings on fire. An ominous chakra was in the air surrounding the group.

"What happened here, and what is that chakra!?" shouted one of the men.

"I don't know, I've never felt a chakra like this before!!" shouted another.

"Wait... I know this chakra... it feels like the Kyuubi no Youko!!" shouted a kunoichi.

Another explosion erupted near the group. Those looking on could swear they heard the roar of the demon coming from the flames. A couple of bodies were thrown at the group. Both were severely burnt and brutalized. It appeared as though they were beaten before finally being burned. Out of the flames, Naruto emerged, covered in blood and red chakra.

"It's the demon!!" shouted one of the men, as he desperately threw a kunai at the blond. The child caught the blade, covered it in his chakra, and threw it through the man's head.

"You were the ones from earlier," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

"How... you never fought us back before!?" shouted another one of the Uchiha.

"After fighting the weak over and over again, it is only natural they become stronger. You pushed this child to within an inch of his life, forcing me out. You see, I can't allow this child to die. It's my end if it's his end. If you would have left well enough alone, this would have never happened. Now, the one you called demon has become a demon. You will now suffer the consequences of your actions!!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto.

"Overwhelm him!!" shouted one of the men, as he began making hand seals.

"Yeah, he's just a brat! Let's get him!" shouted another.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" shouted some of the men.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" shouted others among the group.

Naruto was confronted with several fireballs being sent at him at once. As he was a young child, he had yet to be trained in any form of ninjutsu, not knowing a single jutsu. Kyuubi didn't know any jutsu, but she didn't need to. She knew just how to handle the situation. Naruto went on all fours, as a demon chakra fueled roar erupted from the child, deflecting the fireballs launched at the young child. Some of the men were knocked back from the shock wave generated. Naruto pulled back his arm, and thrust it forward. A chakra form in the shape of a claw was sent out. Those in the path of the claw attempted to block it with kunai and katana. The claw hammered through those before it, forcing many of those before Naruto to be impaled by their own weapons. Those using the smaller weapons were the only ones who survived being hit by the chakra form. The claw came back to Naruto, as if being pulled back by some kind of cable. Those who were still up were shocked at what they saw. This child was defeating shinobi like it was nothing. Naruto bolted towards the remaining Uchiha before him. The first man in his path had his face ripped off of his head. Blood splattered onto Naruto's clothes, not that it could be seen, as his clothes were already stained in blood from when he had been attacked earlier. The other men ran in fear, not wanting to take on the "demon child," now that he had the abilities of his demon. Naruto ripped apart the next pair he caught up to, ripping their limbs off their bodies before finally decapitating them. The blood spraying off of the bodies before him began to coat the chakra form surrounding Naruto. As he was bathed in blood, there was a moment when a red, bloody fox appeared to those looking on at Naruto. The remaining Uchiha were paralyzed in fear at the sight. As the blood was burned away by the chakra surrounding Naruto, the young blond bolted towards the clansmen before him. He slammed them into the remains of a shop. Glass and debris flew everywhere. Few were left without injury. Naruto pulled back both of his arms, and thrust them forward, sending out two chakra claws. The remaining Uchiha were skewered one by one, their fear leaving them unable to avoid being hit. There was one Uchiha left, a kunoichi. She knew there was no way she would be able to kill Naruto as he was, so she hoped she could use her charm to calm the child down.

"Young child, there's no more need for violence. You don't have to kill anymore. You've proven yourself. No one will try to harm you anymore. You don't have to fight," spoke the kunoichi.

Naruto appeared to be listening to her, so she decided to continue.

"I'll take care of you myself. I'll make sure no one hurts you. I'll be like the mother you never had," spoke the kunoichi, motioning to embrace Naruto. The young blond brought back his claws, and slowly walked towards the kunoichi.

"_Yes! It's working! All I have to do is stab him in the head when he gets close, and it'll be over!"_ thought the kunoichi, as Naruto got closer to her. Naruto motioned to hug the woman, but did so with his chakra claws, burning the weapon, and causing her to scream out in pain. The two claws picked up the woman, holding onto her tightly, leaving her unable to move.

"You think that will work on me? You go from trying to kill me one minute to wanting to be my mother the next? You act under a false assumption. That may have worked on Naruto, but Naruto isn't the one in control right now. I am. It's unfortunate that I've stained the hands of this child in blood, but it can't be helped. You and your clan brought this upon yourself," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

At the moment, the woman brought her Sharingan eyes to bear on Naruto's slitted eyes. Kyuubi-Naruto was quickly placed in a genjutsu. The child was in a world where he was trapped within a cage. The skies above were crimson as the cage began to shrink. Before Naruto stood the woman who created the illusion.

"Die!!" shouted the woman.

In response, Kyuubi-Naruto let out a surge of chakra, overwhelming the kunoichi, and ending the illusion. Naruto looked up to see the woman was still in his grasp.

"I'm sorry, but your eyes are not nearly powerful enough to control me. In the thousands of years I've lived, I've only ever met one person with such an ability. I shall bring upon you the same fate that lies ahead of him!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto.

The chakra claws around the woman began to tighten, slowly crushing the woman to death. She screamed out in pain as she felt her bones being crushed.

"Please!! Don't kill me!! I was only trying to protect my village from the demon! I'm sorry!!" shouted the woman.

"You only brutalized a child! The 'demon,' as you put it, was put away by your Yondaime Hokage! Now, die!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto.

The woman continued to scream out apologies between her pain. Blood came out of her mouth as her rib cage was crushed. Before long, blood spurt out of the womans body as her broken bones popped out of her body. Blood soaked her clothes as life left her body. Upon seeing her Sharingan disappear, Naruto dropped the woman, and looked down at her body. A single tear fell from Naruto's eyes upon seeing the body of the woman.

"Child, I understand your feelings, seeing as you've never killed before, but remember, this woman did not, and would not give you the same chance you wish you could have given to her. It's kill or be killed, now grow up!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto. All signs of sorrow left Naruto's eyes and the young child bolted through the rest of the compound, killing off any who were left alive. As Naruto got deeper into the compound, he noticed that most were already killed.

"Did someone else have a grudge against this clan? It works out well for me, either way. I suppose I should thank the one responsible," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, as he continued tearing through the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Itachi! Stop this pointless violence!" shouted Fugaku. At this point, his body was scared from multiple strikes. His outfit was torn and blood soaked. His shoulder was burned, scarring the clan symbol on his shoulder.

"Tou-san, one of us will not survive the night. I don't plan on it being myself," spoke Itachi, as he drew his katana again. At this point, Fugaku had been driven back into his house. Itachi's mother was woken by the noise coming from the living area. She ran into the room to see Itachi delivering a slash across her husband's chest.

"Itachi!!" shouted the woman.

"No! Mikoto, stand back!!" shouted Fugaku.

"You shouldn't ignore your opponent, if even for a moment," spoke Itachi, as he coldly thrust his katana into his father's throat. Fugaku coughed up blood as he turned to face Itachi.

"For... the clan... Itachi... I did everything..." muttered Fugaku, between coughing up blood, as Itachi removed his blade.

"Your actions, as well as those of the council did nothing but bring this clan down. And now you will join in the fate of the rest of the clan," spoke Itachi, as he slammed the end of his katana onto the back of his father's head. Fugaku's skull was cracked from the force of the blow, knocking him out.

"I'll show him mercy. He'll die while he's unconscious," spoke Itachi, as he looked at his mother, pulling up his katana.

"No, Itachi... please... don't do it!!" shouted Mikoto. Itachi moved forward strike, but found himself unable to. Despite everything that had taken place, Itachi found he could not kill his own mother. He tried to swing at her again, only to hold back.

"Itachi..." muttered Mikoto.

An explosion came from the direction of the door. Itachi and Mikoto turned around to see Naruto bursting through the door. Mikoto grabbed a kitchen knife, and attempted to drive it into Itachi's back. Itachi knew what was coming, but couldn't act in time to prevent it. Naruto saw this, and sent a chakra claw into Mikoto's body. Itachi turned around to see blood flowing out of his mother's mouth. She dropped the knife she had, and stumbled forward. Her bloodied body slumped on Itachi. Mikoto moved to hug her elder child.

"Sorry... Itachi..." spoke Mikoto. Naruto ripped the chakra claw out of Mikoto's body, and looked on as her body fell to the ground.

"You hesitate, you die," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, as he looked over at Itachi.

"You... you were the one who was always in the back, never attacking, never striking. You were always there, but you never attacked. Why?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"I don't attack children, and I was under orders," replied Itachi.

"Orders? From who?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

At that moment, a young Sasuke emerged, being woken up by the sound of Naruto storming in. The young child looked on in shock at the demon and his elder brother over the bodies of his parents. A blood soaked katana in Itachi's hand, and blood spattered clothes seemed to answer the unasked question.

"W-what is going on!?" shouted Sasuke.

"Oh, a young Uchiha. I should put him out of his misery," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, as he prepared to deliver a lethal blow to Sasuke.

"NO!!" shouted Itachi, as he grabbed onto Naruto's arm. His hand was burnt by the chakra surrounding it.

"He's my otouto, I'll take care of him," spoke Itachi.

"Very well," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

"No... nii-san..." stuttered Sasuke. Itachi looked into the eyes of Sasuke, and made him relive the murder of the members of the Uchiha Clan. He drew out the scene where he killed Fugaku and Naruto killed Mikoto. Sasuke couldn't take it, and fell to the floor. Sasuke screamed out and tried to pick himself up. After stumbling a couple times, he finally got to his feet, and ran out the back.

"Genjutsu, huh? You're just as bad as me," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, "You're not letting him get away, are you?"

Itachi pursued Sasuke, leaving Naruto and Kyuubi to ponder what had taken place.

"Interesting... he killed off everyone else without hesitation, or so it would seem, and yet he couldn't kill his mother, who almost killed him, or harm his younger brother. He should bury his emotions before they get him into trouble," Kyuubi-Naruto said out loud, before joining Itachi. Naruto found Itachi speaking to Sasuke about hate and fighting him again when he was strong enough. Sasuke ran away as Itachi looked on.

"So you couldn't kill him, could you? You may live to regret this, you know," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

"From how you talk, I assume you are Kyuubi, correct?" asked Itachi.

"Very perceptive. I took over this child's body for the sake of protecting him from death. Now, who gave you these 'orders' you brought up before?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"I did," came a voice from behind the pair. A man stepped towards the pair. The man had somewhat long black hair that was shoulder length and somewhat messy. He wore a mask with striped markings that seemed to direct one to the hole over the man's right eye.

"That voice... I know that voice..." muttered Kyuubi-Naruto.

"Hello Kyuubi," spoke the man.

"You!!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto, as his chakra flared. He attempted to ram a chakra claw through the man, and smiled when it appeared he had succeeded. Instead of reeling in pain, the man only turned to look at Naruto.

"Are you done?" asked the man.

"Die Madara!!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto. His chakra flared again. What appeared to be a second tail began to form out of the chakra. Before it could form, it receded. All of the chakra around Naruto receded abruptly, forcing Naruto to his knees. His slit eyes and pronounced whisker marks remained in place, but his strength left him.

"It seems that's quite the seal in place, holding back your power. I should know. That seal ripped you out of my control," spoke Madara.

"What's with the dumb mask... can't show your face anymore..." spoke Kyuubi-Naruto. He started breathing heavily from the strain of having the demon chakra forcefully pulled out of his body.

"That damned Yondaime Hokage didn't just seal you. Since I bound myself to you in order to control you..." spoke Madara, as he slowly removed his mask, revealing his wrinkled face, one Sharingan eye, and a rotted eye. It appeared as though his left eye had rotted away. Madara replaced his mask, and looked on at Naruto.

"...my eye was sealed away as well, you see," spoke Madara.

"Oh? Isn't that a shame. Too bad for you. I'm actually thankful for the Yondaime. He took me out of your control after you betrayed me," replied Kyuubi-Naruto.

"Bah, I could care less. I may be unable to control you, but you _will_ help me again," spoke Madara.

"Why would I?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"You have no choice. You're weak from fighting that seal for so long. Attempting to pull too much of your chakra out at once has left you as you are right now. Anytime, you could slip into your prison once again, leaving that five year old in charge. How much of a fight do you think he could put up?" asked Madara.

Kyuubi-Naruto had no answer for Madara.

"What did you plan on doing?" asked Itachi.

"What do you mean?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"You killed members of my clan. Did you think over the ramifications of such an action? The villagers hated you before. They'll all try to kill you now," replied Itachi.

"Shit... I didn't give it much thought. It was always Uchiha who led the attacks. I figured the attacks would cease if I killed off your clan," replied Kyuubi-Naruto.

"You'll be placed in an ANBU cell under heavy guard. Your life is over if you try to stay here," replied Itachi.

"He's right. What are you going to do?" asked Madara.

Kyuubi-Naruto thought it over, and concluded there was no answer to be given.

"You could join us," spoke Itachi.

"Who do you mean by 'us,'" asked Kyuubi-Naruto, "If it's just you two, you can forget it. I will never work with _that_ man!"

"Akatsuki," replied Itachi.

"Akatsuki? What is that?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"An organization of S-class missing-nin from the various shinobi villages. An organization I founded," replied Madara.

"Just what do you plan to achieve?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"We plan to take over this world," replied Madara.

"Take over the world? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You could never fulfill such a goal," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto, "Your organization is a joke!"

"It's not a joke. We do have a way to do this. That's where you come in. You and all the bijuu," replied Madara.

"Eh?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"We plan on gathering all the bijuu and using their powers to crush the shinobi nations. That's why I was instructed not to kill you," replied Itachi.

"Oh? And you plan on us happily joining you, no questions asked? Oh, and good luck with those who have jinchuuriki," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

"We didn't plan on you willingly joining us. We can capture the jinchuuriki anytime. The problem is in extracting you from your hosts," replied Madara.

"Not so easy to pull us out, especially with seals such as these. It took most of my strength just to emerge this much for a couple hours," spoke Kyuubi-Naruto.

"We're working on that. We'll likely have to kill all the jinchuuriki, though," replied Madara.

"What!? I won't allow it! This child has suffered enough!!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto.

"Oh, so the great kyuubi does have some sense of compassion? I figured you'd seal your feelings after I broke your heart," spoke Madara.

"You say it so casually. I'd kill you right now if I could!" shouted Kyuubi-Naruto.

"I'll offer you a compromise. You willingly offer us your strength, and maybe, just maybe, we'll look into finding a way to use your strength without having to kill the child," spoke Madara.

"Oh? Why should I believe you?" asked Kyuubi-Naruto.

"You have no choice. We'll take you with us, whether you agree to join us or not. So which is it?" asked Itachi.

"Grr... fine. A chance at life is better than a guarantee of death," replied Kyuubi-Naruto.

"Good, now let's get going before the ANBU make it here. I doubt they'll be away for too much longer," spoke Madara.

"Did you kill those in the north block?" asked Itachi.

"Hai, they're gone. I see that you and the kid have taken care of the rest, except that child. I'll chide you about leaving him to survive later. Let's go, Itachi!" shouted Madara, as he rushed off.

"Can you move?" asked Itachi.

"No... you'll have to carry me. I can't stay out any longer..." muttered Kyuubi-Naruto. Naruto's eyes and cheeks returned to normal. The child fell to the ground unconscious. Itachi picked him up, and fled the village with Madara.

The trio was gone long before anyone could arrive. ANBU charged through the compound, looking to find any sign of those who killed the Uchiha Clan. The only survivor found was Sasuke. He was taken to a hospital while the ANBU continued their search. All they could find were bodies. Madara and Itachi made sure to cover their tracks as they fled.

In his office, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, could only frown at the report before him.

"Members of the Uchiha Clan attacked Naruto, beating him to the point where the kyuubi emerged... and then he disappeared. I wouldn't be surprised if the demon ran amok in the Uchiha Compound, aiding Itachi. I can only hope Itachi hasn't lost sight of his mission in what he has done," muttered the old hokage. He looked over at Mt. Hokage as the sun started to rise. He knew there would be much to deal with on this day.

"We can slow down now," spoke Madara.

"I agree. They won't be able to pursue us, now that we left Hi no Kuni," replied Itachi.

The pair were in Kawa no Kuni, walking along an old path that appeared to have been worn away over time.

"The fact that we're along a road such as this should make it more difficult to track us," spoke Madara.

"So, what are we going to do about him?" asked Itachi.

"I can't say how long the fox will agree to remain with us. It would seem to be a mistake to train him... but... he would make a powerful ally, especially if he learned to control the power of the fox," replied Madara.

"So train him? Very well," replied Itachi.

"W-where am I..." muttered Naruto, as he began to stir.

"Seems this child is awake," spoke Madara.

"I saw... everything... I even helped kill those people... but I don't care... I have to become stronger," spoke Naruto.

"We'll train you, then. You just have to keep the fox in check," spoke Madara.

"Be wary, Madara. This boy thinks as I. He's just as cautious, too," spoke Kyuubi, through Naruto.

"I would listen to her, if I were you... she's scary..." muttered Naruto.

"Child, you need to rest. We'll talk later when you awake," spoke Itachi.

Naruto nodded and drifted back into sleep.

"This should be interesting. I have to wonder how this turn of events will run," spoke Madara.

"I can't say. This is rather unexpected," replied Itachi.

"Indeed. Let's go. Pein is waiting for us," spoke Madara.

_A/N: There you have it, the first chapter of my new story. I'm going to try to drop my habit of making a "happy ending" for this one. I'll continue my tradition in explaining the meanings behind names. Kitasu can be spelled as __懐__, which is the first character in __懐剣__, which means dagger, Kitasu's primary weapon. For those who haven't read "Warriors of the Leaf," Osamu was a member of Akatsuki in Itachi's place, and had a more prominent role. Details can be found on my profile page. Thank you for reading, and please review._


	2. Pain

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; if I did, Pein wouldn't have died_

**Chapter 2: Pain**

Madara and Itachi headed for a network of caves, hidden in a cliff face by a river in Kawa no Kuni. By the time the pair made it inside, night had already fallen. The two decided to build a fire and camp out there for the night.

"Pein told you to meet in here, correct?" asked Itachi.

"Correct," replied Madara.

"Do you mean he will be here tomorrow?" asked Itachi.

"No, not quite. He doesn't appear to people directly. He has a special way of communicating. Did you notice anything special about this cave upon entering it?" asked Madara.

"I noticed the ores in here seem to react to chakra," replied Itachi.

"Correct. That's why he chose this location, to make it easier to contact us. To that end, we have to make it to the upper part of this cave network. That's where we will encounter him," explained Madara.

"I see. So, he uses a jutsu to contact everyone," spoke Itachi.

"It's called Yuutai Ridatsu no Jutsu _(Astral Projection Technique)_. There is another requirement for this jutsu. You must place this on your body, preferably at the base of your neck," spoke Madara, as he handed Itachi a small piece of metal.

"Hm... I can feel chakra of some kind running through it," spoke Itachi.

"Correct. It allows all members of Akatsuki to communicate with one another. It also means no one can intercept our communications, allowing us to spread information without the risk of having that information stolen from us," explained Madara.

"Understood," replied Itachi, as he placed the piece of metal into the back of his neck. Itachi cringed at the pain. He felt an odd sensation as the chakra of the rod merged with the chakra of his body.

"That's all you need to do for the time being. I will show you the necessary hand seals later," spoke Madara.

"Very well. Now, what are we going to do with him?" asked Itachi.

As Itachi mentioned Naruto, the young boy began to stir. He had been out for most of the day, waking up for a few minutes at a time several times throughout the day.

"Uh..." muttered Naruto, "Where am... I?"

"We are in Kawa no Kuni, in part of a network of caves," spoke Madara.

"I can feel something here. There is something special about this place," spoke the kyuubi, through Naruto.

"I see you are awake, as well," spoke Madara.

"My consciousness is tied to this boy. What is this pull I feel from this place?" asked the kyuubi.

"These caves have a high percentage of chakra conduction ore. That is the most likely reason for the feeling you are having," replied Itachi.

"I see. That makes sense. These places were quite useful for hiding in, as the caves would scramble our chakra signals, making it difficult for even the most elite of hunters to find us. Why are we here?" asked the kyuubi.

"We are here to meet the 'leader' of Akatsuki," replied Madara.

"Aren't you the leader?" asked the kyuubi.

"I may be the founder, but I have placed the one known as Pein in charge. He is currently more capable of holding the position at the moment. In addition, I can move around more freely as is. I will say that he does take his orders from me, but I allow him to run the organization for the most part," explained Madara.

"I see. I take it you wish for me to meet with this 'Pein?'" asked the kyuubi.

"Correct, both you and the boy," replied Madara.

"I see. The boy here has been acting rather shy. A fair reaction to his first kill. He may be relatively unresponsive for the next few days," explained the kyuubi.

"Understood. Regardless, he is to meet with our leader tomorrow," spoke Madara.

"Fine," replied the kyuubi.

"There is one more thing. You will eventually meet the other members through one way or another. Only Pein, his partner Konan, and you two know who I truly am. You are to refer to me as Tobi around everyone else and out in the general public. You will know when to refer to me as Madara. This is a rule you must not break. If you do, I will kill you on the spot. Is this understood?" asked Madara.

"I don't care how you wish to be addressed. If that's what you want, then fine, I'll do it," replied the kyuubi.

"Good. Make sure the boy understands this, too," spoke Madara.

"I know, I know. I'm not ignorant," replied the kyuubi.

"Then we have an understanding. Itachi, we should dine on rations tonight. It would be unwise to be moving about for the time being. There is a strong possibility there are hunter-nin out looking for us," spoke Madara.

"I would be surprised if there weren't. I am already aware of the implications," replied Itachi.

"Let's eat, then. We'll have to share with him," spoke Madara, as he pulled out his rations, and separated out a small portion for Naruto. Itachi did the same.

"Arigatou," spoke Naruto, the kyuubi having returned to within her place within Naruto's mind.

"Oh, so you're back. Tell me, child, how do you feel after having made your first kill?" asked Madara.

"I... don't know..." muttered Naruto.

"Naruto, I saw death for the first time when I was four. I killed for the first time when I was eight. It may seem a bit much to deal with at first, but you will grow accustomed to it. It's everyday business for shinobi to kill," explained Itachi.

"So how did you feel after your first kill?" asked Naruto.

"I was defending the other members of my squad. I felt terrified at first, but I learned to deal with it. The next day, the other members of that man's team attempted to avenge the man. I killed them with little remorse. Incidentally, that was when my Sharingan was first activated," replied Itachi.

"Mine was a similar experience to Itachi's. I was born in a world of death. This was before the establishment of the shinobi villages, you see. Our clan fought and killed off the members of several other clans. In some instances, we committed genocide against rival clans. All under the flag of one of the daimyou. I had my first kill when I was your age. I felt a sense of accomplishment. Perhaps it was because I was protecting my otouto. And just like Itachi, my Sharingan was first activated upon having my first kill. After that, killing became part of my daily life. At least it seemed that way, with all the battles going on," spoke Madara.

"I see... so, in the end, I should feel nothing, right?" asked Naruto.

"You should strive for that," replied Itachi.

"That is right," spoke Madara.

"There may be times when you feel some sense of remorse, but remember this: it's kill or be killed. Hesitate, and you die," explained Itachi.

"That's what the fox told me," replied Naruto.

"Good. Keep that in mind in the future," replied Itachi.

The group continued to eat around the fire. They sat in silence for the most part. Naruto was giving careful consideration to what he heard from Itachi and Madara. Upon giving it enough thought, Naruto drew the same conclusion they did. He would have been killed had he not killed those attacking him. The members of the Uchiha Clan constantly brutalized him, along with other people in the village, though it was Uchiha Clansmen who started the fights. At that point, Naruto killed his sense of guilt, freeing him from the restraint of not wanting to kill again.

"_That's right, Kit, this isn't the end, but only the beginning. After what you did, your hands will continue to be soaked in blood throughout your life. The sooner you accept this, the better off you'll be,"_ spoke the kyuubi, within Naruto's mind.

"_I'll try my best,"_ replied Naruto.

After completing their meal, Madara and Itachi continued to talk for a time, before going to sleep. Naruto opted to join them. It was the first time since the night of the Uchiha Massacre that Naruto didn't have nightmares reliving the event, and facing the fear of his actions. The next day, Naruto was woken by Itachi.

"Pack up, we need to make our way to the top of these caves," spoke Itachi.

"O-okay," stuttered Naruto.

The group packed up camp, and made their way through the cave network. As they got closer to the top, light began to shine in from the a series of small holes dotting the ceiling. The caves ended in a large room. It appeared as through the room was carved out. Naruto was a little worn out from having to travel through the caves. He was barely able to keep up with Itachi and Madara. Naruto noticed a strange light in the middle of the room. It appeared to flicker, somewhat like a candle. The light reflected appeared to be a darkened spectrum of light. The form turned around. While it appeared that most of the form was obscured in the dark prism of light, Naruto could clearly make out a pair of grayish-purple eyes with a ripple pattern.

"Madara, I take it this is the one you were talking about before, Uchiha Itachi," spoke the image.

"Correct, Pein. This man was forced to kill the members of his clan by order of the Hokage himself. Itachi wishes to join us in order to find a way to get even with the village that forced him into having to kill off his own clan," replied Madara.

"Very well. Uchiha Itachi, tell me, what is it you hope to gain with Akatsuki?" asked Pein.

"I wish to gain power. I'll need to be in a position of power if I am to avenge my clan upon those who persecuted them," replied Itachi.

"You wish to gain power. What kind of power do you believe I have to grant you?" asked Pein.

"That I'm not sure of. I know this organization is composed of some of the strongest shinobi of the lands. I believe this organization as a whole is dedicated into gaining some kind of power over the world, hence why you are looking into capturing the bijuu," replied Itachi.

"You are right. We aim to use the bijuu to manufacture and snuff out wars. Wars we will decide the outcome of. We will use this ability to corner the market on shinobi labor, forcing the collapse of the other shinobi villages. This will allow us to control the world as we know it," explained Pein.

"I see. I wish to be a part of this. The collapse of Konoha is in my best interests," replied Itachi.

"Very well. I know you are strong enough through your deeds. Madara, give him a uniform and a ring," replied Pein.

"Alright," spoke Madara, as he pulled out a scroll with the kanji 朱 _(shu, scarlet)_. A cloak with red clouds, straw hat, basic shinobi pants and shirt, sandals, and a red ring with 朱 on it were taken from the scroll and given to Itachi.

"You are now a full member of Akatsuki. We will decide upon a partner for you. Madara will teach you how to contact me, should there be need to do so. If that is all, then I shall take my leave of you," spoke Pein.

"There is one more matter. Boy, you may stop trying to hide now," spoke Madara.

"A boy is with you? What significance does this child have that you would allow him in your company?" asked Pein.

"This boy is Uzumaki Naruto, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko," replied Itachi.

"Kyuubi no Jinchuuriki? I see. I would like to speak to the child alone," spoke Pein.

"Do you? Alright, come, Itachi," spoke Madara.

Itachi nodded, and followed Madara out of the room.

"Wait..." spoke Naruto, as he tried to follow Madara and Itachi. Pein's form appeared in front of Naruto, cutting him off. The child fell back in surprise.

"Remain," spoke Pein.

Naruto nodded in response.

"Tell me, child, do you know what fate is to befall you?" asked Pein.

Naruto nodded his head.

"What were you told?" asked Pein.

"I w-was told you were going to k-kill me..." stuttered Naruto.

"For what purpose?" asked Pein.

"To t-take the kyuubi," replied Naruto.

"You are aware of this, and yet you choose to remain in the company of Itachi and Madara. Why?" asked Pein.

"I h-have no choice. I k-killed people in my village... t-the Uchiha Clan," spoke Naruto.

"Are you saying you aided Itachi. Tell me, how could one as young and inexperienced as you be able to help an ANBU level shinobi in killing other shinobi, when a mere genin would overwhelm you?" asked Pein.

"It's because I helped him," came the voice of the kyuubi.

"I see, so you are able to control him, correct?" asked Pein.

"Correct, but only to a point. I could only share a little of my power with him. More than likely, I would find much difficulty in fighting high chunin and above level shinobi in a one on one fight. The fact that I surprised many of the Uchiha and induced fear in them gave me the ability to rip through their rank as easily as I did," replied the kyuubi.

"I see. That's how it is. I take it the seal that locks you within this child is what prevents you from using more of your power?" asked Pein.

"Or being able to escape. I wish to break this seal one day, and escape. Ideally, I wish to find a way to do this without killing the boy. That's why I wish to ally myself with your organization. If I stand against you, I will likely face defeat and be taken, ensuring the death of this child. If I join you, we may be able to work together in finding a way to use our power without killing the ones we're are bound to," explained the kyuubi.

"Is this so? I won't make any promises, but tell me this: why are you interested in protecting this child? If memory serves, you were about to crush his village," replied Pein.

"I was forced into it. Don't tell me you aren't aware of this. I had no ill intentions towards his village until I witnessed what this child went through," explained the kyuubi.

"I am aware. I wished to ask for your version of that night. Attacks on a village by bijuu were said to be a rare occurrence. Even when such attacks were made, it was often in self defense. I asked to know your reason to verify these stories," replied Pein.

"Fair enough. I realize this likely was not something you expected. I don't suppose you can make me a full member?" asked the kyuubi.

"You are in the body of a child. Even if you weren't, that is not possible. There is a limit to the number of members in the organization at one time. The reason for this is something you will learn in time. I can make you an affiliate member, but that's all I can do for the time being. You need to learn the shinobi arts if you wish to be of any use to me," replied Pein.

"Very well, I accept," spoke the kyuubi.

"You may, but I do not know of the boy's intentions. I said I could offer you the position, but I wish to learn more from the boy, in the boy's own words. There is something I wish to know," replied Pein.

"What is it you wish to know?" asked the kyuubi.

"That is between me and the boy," replied Pein.

"At least address him by his name. His fear of you is part of what brought me out," spoke the kyuubi.

"Very well. I wish to speak to Naruto himself. Allow him to resume control of his body," requested Pein.

"Alright," replied the kyuubi.

"_But... he's scary..."_ spoke Naruto.

"_Get over it, Kit. You've had your first kill, and yet you can't talk to this man? You need to purge yourself of fear. The best way to do so is to confront it, now, go and speak to this man,"_ replied the kyuubi.

"_It's... hard..."_ spoke Naruto.

"_If you don't, he'll kill us. Is that what you want? Now, talk to the man!"_ shouted the kyuubi.

"_Hai..."_ replied Naruto.

"You w-want to talk to me?" asked Naruto.

"Correct, Naruto. I have a question for you. Do you know what pain is?" asked Pein.

"Pain?" replied Naruto.

"Explain it to me through your experiences," spoke Pein.

"I-it's..."

"I am not going to lash out out you, so stop stuttering, and speak your mind. I'm not here to criticize, now answer the question," spoke Pein.

Naruto breathed in quickly, giving some thought to his answer. He closed his eyes, reliving the moments when he felt the most pain. Upon reflecting on his past experiences, Naruto prepared his answer.

"Pain... this feeling I have when I'm attacked by the villagers. The constant beatings... and the looks. They look at me like I'm some kind of demon. They don't see me, they see the fox. They always push me out of the way. I can't even shop for food, so I have to steal. And I get beaten for that. I can't buy clothes, so I steal, and I get beaten for that. The shinobi are supposed to protect me, but most of them end up being the ones that beat me," spoke Naruto.

"Why does this hurt you so much?" asked Pein.

"Because I feel... betrayed. They shouldn't be using their skills to attack a harmless child, they should be out protecting the village, taking missions, doing what shinobi do. Does being a shinobi mean you bully around the weak? That's not what they tell the other children, but that's what they do," spoke Naruto.

"And this pain you have from this feeling of betrayal, how does that make you feel?" asked Pein.

"I feel so alone... lost in despair... no one is ever there to comfort me... all there is... is hate..." muttered Naruto, while starting to cry.

"But that's not all, there's something else, another part to your feelings. What is this part, don't succumb to those feelings of despair, and tell me what this other feeling is!" shouted Pein.

"The ones with red eyes... always picking me out... always beating me... and making me suffer! They never stopped, not once!! They had better things to do, but all they did was pick me out, and beat me up! And for what!? For something I had nothing to do with!!" shouted Naruto.

"That's right, this is what you feel, right? What is this feeling? Explain it," spoke Pein.

"Anger! It angered me to no end. They were supposed to be policing the shinobi of the village, but they encouraged everyone to beat up me! They broke the oath to protect! The attacked me over and over again! And finally, I snapped! I fell into despair... and then I lashed out! I set her free, and she helped me kill the ones with the red eyes!" shouted Naruto.

"You seemed upset before, are you still upset over what you did?" asked Pein.

"There was this one woman... she looked like she wanted to reach out to me... to give me a family... I wanted it so bad that I approached her... but the kyuubi, she knew... she knew this woman was a fake, and made me kill her in such a brutal way... crushing her body. She cried out tears as I took her life..." spoke Naruto, returning to a broken tone.

"But she betrayed you, so why do you feel such guilt?" asked Pein.

"Yes... she betrayed me... she betrayed me! She wasn't going to give me a family, she was going to kill me! She took advantage of my hopes and dreams! She didn't even know me, and yet she could see what I wanted... and she used it to try to kill me! I don't feel guilt, I feel excited! I'm glad I could put someone as underhanded as her in her grave! I'd kill her a thousand times over to make her experience the pain she caused me!!" shouted Naruto.

"Well spoken, boy, well spoken," spoke Pein.

"I'm not some boy, my name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm tired of being called boy by everyone! I'm not some thing in the way, I'm a person, damn it!!" shouted Naruto.

"Fine, Naruto, but you would be wise in the future to avoid directing your anger at me. However, you gave a good answer to my question. You know true pain... the pain of loss... the pain of hope... the pain of losing a dream when it's in your grasp... you understand pain almost as well as I. And you wish to bring that pain to everyone who brought it unto you, correct?" asked Pein.

"That's right, I want to make them all pay," replied Naruto.

"People learn through pain. Without pain, there can be no peace. This is why I lead Akatsuki. To bring the world to it's knees through pain, and purify it's people through this feeling. You would be a welcome addition to our organization. We are a group of S-class shinobi working to give the world knowledge through pain, though most of our members are unaware of this fact. Your mind is in the right place, but you need to work hard if you are to be of use to me. The spot is open for you, but you must train. Train as hard as you can. Use your pain as inspiration, and become one of the strongest shinobi of the lands," spoke Pein.

Naruto nodded in response. As Pein finished his words, Itachi and Madara returned.

"I take it you summoned us here, because you are finished talking to the boy?" asked Madara.

"Correct. Itachi, you will train the boy in the shinobi arts until he becomes of age, between your other tasks, of course," spoke Pein.

"Hai, Leader-sama," replied Itachi.

"I will also train the boy as I have time," spoke Madara.

"As you wish, Madara. You told me of a jutsu before that involved the jinchuuriki. Can you perfect it?" asked Pein.

"Oh, renewed your interest in it, have you? I can complete it. It may be a year or two, but I can finish it," replied Madara.

"Our plans have changed. We will attempt to form alliances with the jinchuuriki. If all have been treated as Naruto and the other one, then we may be able to bring them to our side willingly. Those who refuse will be brought in by force," spoke Pein.

"That's not too different from before, really. Diplomacy was never my strong point, but a jinchuuriki and bijuu willing to join our cause would be much more useful than one forced into our service. As we already have two, it may not be such a stretch to obtain cooperation from the other seven," spoke Madara.

"Good. I'll let the other one know. I'll be in contact with you again upon finding new members. On that note, how has your search for a partner gone?" asked Pein.

"There is one individual of interest. I plan to meet with him within the next couple of days," replied Madara.

"Very well. Train the boy. When the time comes, I'll have a test for him. Farewell," spoke Pein, as his image disappeared.

"A test, eh? I suppose we better train this boy well. Knowing him, he'll likely have quite a challenge for this boy," spoke Madara.

"I will have him at my level by time he comes of age. That I can promise," replied Itachi.

"Good. We need to find a place to lay low for a while. I need to go into Kusa no Kuni. Konoha shinobi won't pursue us there. Let's go," spoke Madara.

"Hai," replied Itachi and Naruto.

Outside of Amegakure no Sato, Pein was sitting on a ledge, looking out to the village in the distance. He typically sat in this position while contacting members of Akatsuki. Rain fell from the sky, wetting his hair and cloak. The man looked up into the sky, pondering the change in events.

"Pein-sama, you asked to speak with me?" came a voice from behind Pein.

"Hai, it seems another jinchuuriki has willingly joined our cause," replied Pein.

"Is that so?" asked the person.

"I'm considering the jutsu Madara was working on for extracting bijuu," spoke Pein.

"You're considering that jutsu again? That's good to know. As loyal as I am to you, Pein-sama, I have no desire to die for any cause, if I can avoid it," spoke the jinchuuriki.

"I thought you would be pleased. You should continue your training. The war is not yet over. We are getting closer to our victory, but we have a long way to go before we can take out Hanzo's main defense force," spoke Pein.

"Hey, I may only be ten, but I'm more than a match for the typical shinobi," replied the jinchuuriki.

"Don't take Hanzo and his men lightly. They have proven to be a challenge even to me," spoke Pein.

"I understand. I'll continue my training," spoke the jinchuuriki.

"As you should," replied Pein.

"What is this jinchuuriki like?" asked the jinchuuriki.

"He seems to have been through a harsh life. Not so much as yours, but the child knows pain," replied Pein.

"Does he now? Interesting. When you say child, do you mean child my age, or younger?" asked the jinchuuriki.

"Younger, around five years of age," answered Pein.

"Just five, and he made the decision to join us?" asked the jinchuuriki.

"The jinchuuriki was able to use his bijuu to take out part of Konoha's Uchiha Clan. He was able to do this with no formal ninja training. He has the potential to become one of our strongest allies," explained Pein.

"This brat took out part of the Uchiha Clan with that Itachi guy you were talking about? Now I'm interested. Which bijuu?" asked the jinchuuriki.

"The kyuubi," replied Pein.

"The kyuubi!? Damn, so, she is as powerful as my bijuu claims. This kid might even prove a challenge to me," spoke the jinchuuriki.

"Then I would advise you to continue your training. There will come a day when I ask you to test your abilities against one another. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself against him, would you?" asked Pein.

"No, I wouldn't appreciate that. I'll train harder than I had before. Even after we've finally crushed Hanzo, I'll continue to improve," replied the jinchuuriki.

"That's what I would expect. Now, get to your training," spoke Pein.

"Hai, Pein-sama," spoke the jinchuuriki. The person headed to another part of Pein's base.

"Seems you've given him a challenge," spoke a feminine voice.

"Konan, I didn't think you would be out in the rain. If you wished, I could have stopped it for you," replied Pein.

"I didn't want to bother you while you were talking to everyone," spoke Konan. The kunoichi was holding an umbrella, while walking beside Pein.

"I heard about the jinchuuriki. Who do you think he will side with?" asked Konan.

"The kyuubi has reason to despise Madara. This Naruto will likely side with us," replied Pein.

"So that's why you're considering the use of Madara's jutsu. You believe he'll be helpful the day we break from Madara, right?" asked Konan.

"Very helpful. Even in his weakened form, I would have trouble fighting him as is. We'll need as many allies as we can gain. Only then will we be able to realize our dream," replied Pein.

"Of course," spoke Konan.

"Now, tell me, while you were out, did you notice anything of importance?" asked Pein.

"Hanzo's men are on the move. They have yet to find our location, but it will only be a matter of time before they do," replied Konan.

"Is that so? Our traps will slow them down. By the time they get here, we'll be more than ready," spoke Pein.

"I've already prepared our defenses here. The final battle will be soon," replied Konan.

"First comes this country. Then we'll be able to better focus on our ultimate goal," spoke Pein.

Konan and Pein looked out towards Amegakure no Sato again, waiting for their chance to avenge their fallen comrades.

Along the border of Hi no Kuni, Madara, Itachi, and Naruto made their way towards Kusa no Kuni. Due to being in Hi no Kuni, the group was constantly on the lookout for Konoha-nin.

"Why are we traveling through here? Wouldn't it have been better to stay out of Hi no Kuni?" asked Naruto.

"There is a very good reason for being in Hi no Kuni," spoke Madara.

"Since you're a child, you probably aren't too aware of the geography of the area, or the politics of the countries in this area," spoke Itachi.

"So why are we going this way, then?" asked Naruto.

"If we went the direct route, we would have gone into Ame no Kuni. We can't travel through there at the moment," replied Madara.

"Why not?" asked Naruto.

"Ame no Kuni is in the middle of a Civil War right now," replied Madara.

"If memory serves, Ame no Kuni has been locked in war for many years. The country was devastated during the ninja wars, always becoming a battle ground for the wars of the Five Great Shinobi Nations," spoke Itachi.

"Correct. That's one thing that hasn't changed since the founding of the modern shinobi system. Ame no Kuni happens to be located in the worst place in relation to the major nations. On top of that, the political situation in Ame has destabilized. Leadership of Amegakure no Sato may change soon. Until their war is settled, it is best we stay away from the nation," explained Madara.

"It's that bad, is it?" asked Naruto.

"It's worse than I thought. I knew they were in a Civil War, but are you suggesting that Hanzo is in a position to lose?" asked Itachi.

"I'm suggesting it as a possibility. I should tell you that the man we spoke to at the cave is leading the war against Hanzo. His power is greater than you could imagine," replied Madara.

"I see," spoke Itachi.

"So that's why we're in Hi no Kuni? Why couldn't we go around Ame no Kuni on the other side?" asked Naruto.

"Kaze no Kuni isn't much better. They have been having conflicts with Konoha off and on since the last shinobi war. As a result, they've been keeping an eye on their borders," explained Itachi.

"And besides that, it would be a much longer trip. It's better to go this way. The border of Hi no Kuni isn't as tight as the borders around the other nations," spoke Madara.

"If you say so," spoke Naruto.

"Child, you have much to learn about the world, as well as the shinobi arts. Once we get to Kusa, we'll begin your training. Perhaps Itachi can teach you a little about the world, as well?" spoke Madara.

"I had planned to. Knowledge is very important, after all," replied Itachi.

"Good. Let's continue on our path, then," spoke Madara.

The trio continued on their journey along the border of Hi no Kuni. They kept constant guard for Konoha shinobi. As Madara has suggested, the border was lightly guarded. The trio ran into only one patrol of shinobi.

"Stay down, kid," spoke Itachi.

"What is it?" asked Naruto.

"There are four Konoha-nin up ahead. They appear to be only chunin level," spoke Itachi.

"Chunin, eh? Not exactly top pick for border patrol," replied Madara.

"Jonin are only sent to places were possible invasion forces are reported. Chunin conduct the regular patrols," spoke Itachi.

"Is that so? In my Konoha, it was always two jonin and two chunin," replied Madara.

"Are we going to attack them?" asked Naruto.

"No, it would be a waste of time. Not to mention the problems it would cause us if they didn't return. They would send out a stronger squad, increasing the risk of our location being found," spoke Itachi.

"I suppose that would be our wisest choice. We'll wait for them to pass, and then continue on our way," spoke Madara.

The Konoha-nin appeared to get closer to where the trio was hiding, but stopped short of finding them. Naruto almost jumped out, recognizing one of the shinobi as a member of the mobs that used to pursue him.

"There comes a time for revenge. Now is not that time," spoke Itachi.

"Fine," spoke Naruto.

"I've waited many decades just to get revenge upon our clan. You should learn patience," spoke Madara.

Naruto nodded in response as the group continued to monitor the patrol. As they passed the area, the group continued on their path. In Kusa, they found no sign of any patrols along the border.

"There, now we won't have to worry about those bothersome Konoha shinobi," spoke Madara.

"Do you know of anywhere we can stay?" asked Itachi.

"I do. There is a small village up ahead. I had planned on meeting someone there. Someone who could prove to be of some use to us," spoke Madara.

The trio made their way into the village Madara spoke of. The village appeared to be slightly run down. None of the shops along the main street were busy, but they weren't dead, either. Madara led the group to a hotel. At this point, Madara opted to don his other personality.

"Hello!" shouted Madara, under the guise of Tobi.

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the receptionist of the hotel.

"Tobi would like a room for three!"

"Very well, the initial payment is due now. Payments are required at the start of each day you plan to remain here," replied the receptionist.

Madara pulled out the money required for the room, prompting the receptionist to hand Madara a key.

"The room is up stairs, room 407," replied the receptionist.

"Arigatou. Let's go, Itachi-san, Naruto-san!" shouted Madara.

The group unpacked in their room. Madara left Itachi the key, heading off the meet the individual he was talking about earlier. Since it was already late in the day, Naruto and Itachi decided they would eat at the hotel, sleep the night, and begin training the next day. Madara left the hotel, and headed to a nearby bar. Madara headed for a table with a strange man with a plant-like head.

"Are you Zetsu?" asked Madara.

"Are you Madara?" asked the plant man.

"So, I take it you received my communication?"

"Correct. You wish for me to join this Akatsuki? What will I gain from this?"

"You want both Kusa no Kuni and Hi no Kuni, right? The great forest lands of the world?"

"I am interested."

"You help us, and we'll help you."

"How could you be able to help me with such a lofty goal? I've found it impossible to accomplish."

"You know what the bijuu are, correct?"

"I've heard of them. Most of the major shinobi nations have access to at least one."

"We plan to use them for our goals."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Jinchuuriki are the only somewhat successful use of the bijuu, and even then, they are flawed as weapons. They depend too much on the host, rather than the beast."

"I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the power of the jinchuuriki. You are right in that they are failed weapons, but they are not useless weapons. There are jinchuuriki out there capable of besting a kage in battle."

"Is that so?"

"So I've heard. This is why we need strong shinobi to aid in their capture. We plan on using a means to use the pure power of the bijuu."

"Nonsense. It can't be done. Most of the villages have tried over the years. They have yet to succeed."

"I am aware. The problem of the villages is that they're convinced a shinobi has to be the medium to use a bijuu's power. We've found a much more efficient way."

"What would this way be?"

"It's not something I can discuss in public. If you wish, I shall offer you a small demonstration. Come," spoke Madara, as he offered a hand to Zetsu. The plant man stood still for a few moments, contemplating on whether or not to believe in what Madara was saying. Upon realizing he had nothing to lose, Zetsu followed Madara. The masked-nin led Zetsu to a small cave just outside of the village.

"What can you show me here that will prove your ability to harness the pure power of the bijuu?" asked Zetsu.

Madara made a series of hand seals before slamming his palm into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! _(Summoning Technique)_" shouted Madara. A statue the size of a person appeared. The statue had a demonic aura about it.

"What is this?" asked Zetsu.

"This is a sample. It has some of the chakra that emerged from the kyuubi no kitsune when it attacked Konohagakure no Sato. The power here is a small sample, but should be sufficient enough. We need to leave this cave for a moment," spoke Madara, as he led Zetsu out of the cave. Madara and Zetsu stood several meters away from the cave. Madara performed another set of hand seals, while Zetsu looked on. Within seconds, the cave disappeared completely. There was no explosion of any kind. The cave and the formation around it disappeared from existence.

"What is this?" asked Zetsu.

"An advanced space/time jutsu. I'm sure you are aware of the chakra needed to move such a mass in the way I did, correct?" asked Madara.

Zetsu nodded in response.

"Had I done that on my own, I would have exhausted my chakra to the point of near death, but, as you can see, I'm still up and full of life. I did this through use of the chakra in that statue. That statue there is a mere copy of the one the leader of Akatsuki has access to. While it is incomplete, it can readily absorb a bijuu, able to control all of its chakra," explained Madara.

"And you plan to absorb them all... with such power, nothing would be impossible," spoke Zetsu.

"Exactly. We could have anything we wanted. The ultimate weapon. We could bring peace to this world, or forever plummet it into the darkness. We could create a new nations of such a grandeur the world has never seen, or would could bring forth destruction through fires that burn the likes of which have never been seen before. Nothing would be out of our reach. Now, you know we have the means. Are you interested?" asked Madara.

"How many bijuu have you secured so far?" asked Zetsu.

"We have two jinchuuriki. As I mentioned before, the statue for extracting bijuu is not yet complete. It may take a few years, depending on how things go on the leader's end. We are more focused on gathering information and resources at this point in time. I need people. You have talents I could use. This is why I approached you. Now, are you interested?" asked Madara.

Zetsu thought over everything he had witnessed. This was the first time since he started working towards his goals he had actually found a means to accomplish his goals. Zetsu thought it over for a few more moments, before a smile crept across his face.

"I'll join. This is the best opportunity I've had so far in achieving my goal," replied Zetsu.

"Glad to hear it," spoke Madara, as he pulled out an Akatsuki uniform, and explained to Zetsu about how the members gathered and communicated. Zetsu's scroll and ring had 亥 _(gai, sign of the boar)_.

"What did you have in mind for me?" asked Zetsu.

"This Kagerou Jutsu _(Mayfly Technique)_ of yours would be very useful for spying. Not to mention your... habits... would be useful for disposal," replied Madara.

"I see. You must have heard of my past as a mercenary hunter," spoke Zetsu.

"I did. You were careful to avoid making too much of a name for yourself. I found it difficult to find information on you, knowing only of rumors until I was able to find your location," explained Madara.

"I see. I was going to ask you how you were able to find me," spoke Zetsu.

"I have my ways. As founder of Akatsuki, I am a master of information collection. I need you to meet with the leader as soon as possible. Go to the location on this map, and make contact with him using the jutsu in the scroll. He'll fill you in on the rest," replied Madara.

"I understand. Good day, Madara-sama," spoke Zetsu.

"For the sake of 'public relations,' refer to me as Tobi, unless I state otherwise," replied Madara.

"Very well, Tobi-sama."

"No, no, just Tobi. As for why, let's say... Tobi has to keep his identity a secret," replied Madara, while slipping into Tobi's personality. Zetsu nodded, unsealed the scroll, placed on the cloak, and took off for the location on the map.

"_He will be of great use to us. There's no one better in the spy business,"_ thought Madara, as he made his way back to the hotel he was staying in with Itachi and Naruto.

The night passed by without incident. Itachi asked Madara about his rendezvous. Madara simply stated it went well, before slipping into his bed. The next morning, Itachi asked Madara what their next course of action was.

"I will continue to investigate leads into other people worthy of becoming a part of our organization. There are rumors floating around about a shinobi with enough strength to break through the guard of the daimyou of Mizu no Kuni, successfully ending the life of the daimyou of Mizu no Kuni. He's rumored to have a chakra reserve comparable to that of an awakened jinchuuriki. An individual of his caliber is not one to be ignored," explained Madara.

"I will begin training the boy, then. Should we remain here for the time being?" asked Itachi.

"You should stay here as long as you feel you are not in danger of being caught by Konoha. If it seems they are moving in on you, leave. It would be best if you were to avoid allowing information on your current whereabouts to spread," replied Madara.

"Understood. I wish you luck, Madara-sama," spoke Itachi.

"Indeed. Naruto, learn as much as you can. I expect you to gain strength that will make you worthy of holding the power of the kyuubi," spoke Madara.

"He'll become strong enough. I may be in on your organization, but know this, if the chance presents itself, I'll remove you from existence," replied the kyuubi, through Naruto.

"My, my, I can see you woke up in a good mood this morning. I'm off. Train and keep an ear open. Oh, and this is for the boy," spoke Madara, while handing a small piece of metal to Itachi. Madara took his leave of the pair. Itachi recognized the object as the same receiver he had implanted into his neck.

"You must have made quite an impression for him to decide this. Place this in your neck, just as I have. It may be slightly painful, but it's only once," spoke Itachi, while handing the object to Naruto. Naruto did as he was told, shaking at the feeling of pain as the object made contact with his spine.

"We shall begin your training today. Come, Naruto," spoke Itachi.

The two had a quick breakfast in the hotel. Itachi then led Naruto to a field outside of the village they were in.

"What kind of training did you have in mind?" asked Naruto.

Itachi appeared to smile before all emotion left his face. Naruto wondered what it meant, before Itachi sent a knee into his gut, knocking the child back. Naruto coughed in reaction.

"What... was..." muttered Naruto.

"Get up, and fight back!" shouted Itachi, as he went after Naruto again. The young blond rolled out of the way of a fist that would have broken his nose. His reward came in the form of a kick that flipped his body over.

"Stand up!" shouted Itachi.

Naruto didn't get up, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Are you crying? You'll never be able to do anything if all you do is cry like a baby!" shouted Itachi, as he rushed towards Naruto again. Itachi prepared to sent his fist into Naruto's gut, but was stopped by a red mass of chakra. A feral Naruto looked Itachi in the eye.

"I won't cry, I'll be glad to give you some entertainment!" shouted kyuubi-Naruto.

Itachi visibly frowned at the sight. Itachi activated his Sharingan, and planted himself within Naruto's mind scape. Itachi found a crying Naruto in front of the cage holding the kyuubi. The bijuu was in the full form of the fox.

"Tsk, tsk. The boy will never learn anything if you jump in to help him every time," spoke Itachi.

"Don't you think your training method is a little harsh for a five year old?" asked the kyuubi.

"This is how I learned. My father beat me to within an inch of my life, until I finally learned to fight him on even footing. If this boy can't learn to do the same, he'll never be able to handle himself in battle," replied Itachi.

"Is that so?" asked the kyuubi.

"He won't gain anything unless you allow him to. Do not interfere. I have a special training regimen for both you and Naruto. You'll take turns, so I can teach both of you the shinobi arts. Your skills will better compliment each other in this way. However, if you wish for the child to learn anything, you must not interfere," explained Itachi.

"If you say so, then I'll comply. Boy, stop your crying, and re-enter the world. Train as hard as you can, or you'll never have the power to get back at those who brought so much pain onto you. Remember what you were talking about with the man in the cave. Remember the spirit you demonstrated to that man, and show it to Itachi!" shouted the kyuubi.

"O-okay..." muttered Naruto.

"That's not it! Show him!" shouted the kyuubi.

"Okay!" shouted Naruto.

Itachi left Naruto's mind to find the chakra that absorbed his punch had disappeared. Naruto attempted to strike out at Itachi, only to miss.

"At least you are trying to fight back now, but it will be quite sometime before you learn to land a hit on me," spoke Itachi, as he delivered a kick to Naruto's head, knocking him to the side. Naruto struggled to get up, but was met with a hit to his shoulder. He felt his arm go numb from the hit. Naruto realized the kyuubi wasn't even going to lend her chakra for healing the child's injuries. Naruto felt he couldn't move before a fist drilled into his gut, knocking the boy out.

"That's it, huh? I didn't expect much. You better improve for the next time. Be thankful I didn't break any of your bones," spoke Itachi, as he walked off, leaving Naruto alone. Itachi stopped a good distance away from Naruto, waiting for the boy to recover. He didn't want to leave him all alone, but he didn't want to baby him, either. Itachi waited for a couple hours. Naruto finally got up, alarmed that Itachi was not there. He started to cry in frustration, feeling as though he had been abandoned. Naruto then got angry, and stormed off back in the direction of the village. Itachi made sure to stay ahead of Naruto, and made his way back to the hotel. He kept an eye out for Naruto's return.

"I see you made it back," spoke Itachi.

"You left me out there!" shouted Naruto.

"The same as it was for me. You'll gain nothing from me treating you like a baby," replied Itachi.

"I want a rematch!" shouted Naruto.

"Do you, now? You wish to return and resume?" asked Itachi.

"That's right," spoke Naruto.

"Fine, we'll return," spoke Itachi.

Itachi led Naruto out to the field again. He didn't wait to announce the beginning of their match; he simply kicked Naruto back. The boy coughed up a little blood from the hit. He struggled to get to his feet again, only to take another punch.

"You haven't learned anything, have you?" asked Itachi.

"This is just my first day!!" shouted Naruto.

"Oh? Was it not you who wished for a rematch? I thought that meant you had something to show me?" asked Itachi.

Naruto grunted before charging towards Itachi. Itachi held his stance, and allowed Naruto to strike out towards him. Itachi blocked each one of Naruto's kicks and punches, observing how powerful each strike was. Naruto had no form in his strikes, simply lashing out like a wounded animal. Itachi was hoping he would attempt to mimic Itachi's movements to some level, but found himself disappointed. Itachi continued to block blow after blow. Upon getting tired of dealing with Naruto's increasing frustration over his failure to land a hit, Itachi delivered a crushing blow to Naruto's rib cage, quickly ending the fight.

"That's it for today," spoke Itachi, as he observed Naruto struggling to catch his breath.

"There's nothing else to gain from this. Tomorrow, it will be the bijuu's turn. Now, let's go."

Naruto grumbled as he got to his feet. Itachi began walking back towards the village. Naruto thought he had a chance to get even at Itachi while his back was turned, and charged towards the Uchiha. Naruto was surprised when Itachi moved to the side, and performed a sweeping kick, causing Naruto to slam his face into the dirt.

"I would never turn my back on an opponent I couldn't easily overwhelm with my back turned. I've spent much time in training myself for surprise attacks from my blind spots. Keep that in mind the next time you plan on striking at me from behind," spoke Itachi, as he walked off.

"_I'll get him, I have to,"_ Naruto thought to himself.

"_That's okay, it's my turn to deal with him tomorrow,"_ replied the kyuubi.

The pair had dinner in silence. The people around the pair wondered what happened to the child for him to be injured so badly.

"What happened to this boy?" asked a woman.

"Training," replied Itachi.

"Eh?" asked the woman.

"Training," spoke Naruto.

"What kind of training would you allow a child to take so that he would end up like this!?" shouted the woman.

"The practical kind. I don't criticize how you conduct yourself, so please withhold such comments about how I conduct myself," replied Itachi.

"I can't let you put a child through something like that!" shouted the woman.

Itachi activated his Sharingan, and looked the woman in the eye. The woman collapsed seconds later.

"Loudmouth..." muttered Naruto.

The people there were too stunned to do anything, out of fear the same fate would befall them. The rest of the night went by in peace. Naruto refused to say anything to Itachi for the rest of the night, reflecting on his fights with the Uchiha. The next day, Itachi took Naruto back to the field after the pair had breakfast.

"Alright, today, I'll begin training the kyuubi. With any luck, he should be able to put up much more of a fight," spoke Itachi.

"Um..." spoke Naruto.

"What?" asked Itachi.

"The kyuubi is a girl," replied Naruto.

"Then hopefully _she _will be able to put up much more of a fight," spoke Itachi, "Now, allow her to take control of your body."

Naruto nodded. A red chakra leaked out of Naruto's body. The whisker marks on his cheeks deepened, and his eyes changed from blue to red with slits.

"You're going to find I can challenge you in ways you didn't think possible," spoke the kyuubi.

"Is that so? I don't doubt your strength for a moment, but I'm not training _you_ for strength. What you need is form. Keep your use of demon chakra to a minimum. You'll get more out of this training if we work on your forms rather than power," explained Itachi.

"Is that what you planned on showing me? Fine. I've never needed 'form,' as you put it. In thousands of years, my strength alone was sufficient," replied the kyuubi.

"I am aware. However, this isn't like it has been over the past thousands of years. You are now confined to the body of a human. You have the strength, but no way to use it. As such, you'll need more than strength if you wish to survive, now, come at me with your best shot," spoke Itachi.

The kyuubi placed a wide grin across Naruto's face, as she made her host rush Itachi. She prepared to send a blow into the gut of the Uchiha, only for him to simply evade. She saw Itachi prepare to strike at her from the side. Knowing she couldn't turn around fast enough, she made a claw of chakra to knock Itachi away. The Uchiha frowned at this, much in the same way he did before entering Naruto's mind.

"What's bothering you now?" asked the kyuubi.

"You used a chakra form to repel my attack, fighting as you would have before, correct?" asked Itachi.

"Correct. Is there something wrong with that?" replied the kyuubi.

"I already told you, you are going to train like a human. That means you need to fight like a human. While I have no doubt that there are those out there who could manipulate chakra forms as you do, you'll gain nothing fighting me in that manner. If I'm going to hit you, defend as a human. If not, you'll find yourself in for an unfortunate surprise," spoke Itachi.

"Will I, now? I'll keep that in mind," replied the kyuubi.

"Come," spoke Itachi, as he took a defensive stance.

The kyuubi sent Naruto's body charging towards Itachi again, with the same results. Fighting on instinct, the kyuubi sent another chakra claw at Itachi. This time, the claw was dispelled, and Itachi delivered a blow to the side of Naruto's head, knocking the child's body back. As the kyuubi had attached herself to Naruto in the way she did, she felt the same sensations are Naruto. She felt a strange sensation, pain. It had been ages since the last time she experienced it. She grunted at the feeling and cast a gaze of hatred at the one who brought it upon her.

"I warned you not to fight me like that," spoke Itachi, his eyes those of the Sharingan.

"So, you plan on using those eyes, do you? Those damned eyes of your clan. You think you have such an edge over me, don't you?" asked the kyuubi.

"You _will_ fight me as a human, without use of the chakra form. In your weakened state, I can readily dispel any chakra forms you send in my direction. As I said, you will learn nothing if you don't change your fighting style. Now, come at me again, and this time, try something a little different," replied Itachi.

The kyuubi charged Naruto's body towards Itachi once more, this time sidestepping as she got close, attempting to kick Itachi at the side. Itachi ducked the kick, and countered with one of his own. The kyuubi attempted another chakra form, only to have it dissipated. The kyuubi backed away, lessening the impact of the blow. She smiled at the Uchiha before resuming her duel. Her current fighting style reminded Itachi of a wild animal, clawing and punching. As the fight continued, the kyuubi became desperate to land a single hit on the Uchiha. She came to quickly realize this would be difficult to accomplish while the Uchiha was using his Sharingan.

"You plan to use those eyes the entire time? Cheater," spoke the kyuubi, while barely missing Itachi's face.

"They are a tool. I don't consider it cheating, but part of my fighting style. If you hate my eyes so much, then find a way around them. For now, I will continue to use them," replied Itachi, as he landed a kick on Naruto's gut, knocking the boy's body into the dirt. Itachi landed blow after blow upon the body of the boy. Since the kyuubi was using her chakra, the boy was able to heal after receiving a heavy blow, allowing the kyuubi to continue to fight. Itachi was glad the kyuubi had much more endurance than Naruto alone, though it was what he expected. As the day wore on, Itachi began increasing the power behind his strikes, rather than weakening with fatigue, much to the kyuubi's surprise. She continued to get hit by Itachi's strikes, and was slowly losing her hold on Naruto's body. She found it increasingly difficult to get up after repeated attacks. Through her struggles, Itachi gave her little time to recuperate. As the sun began to set, Itachi delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's midsection. The kyuubi was no longer able to maintain her control, causing Naruto's features to return to normal. The boy quickly passed out. Itachi approached the boy, checking to be sure the kyuubi wasn't attempting to play some kind of trick on him. Upon realizing she had truly lost control, Itachi separated himself from the boy, and continued to observe. Itachi started snacking on something he brought with him when the boy awoke. He grumbled to himself about both Itachi and the kyuubi leaving him out there alone as he made his return to the village. Itachi made sure to return ahead of Naruto, and observed the look on the boy as he made it through the door.

"The fox didn't give you much of a challenge, did she?" asked Naruto.

"Not much, but she did last much longer than you. That's something you could learn from her. Did she have anything to say about the fight?" asked Itachi.

"Not a thing; she's out cold," replied Naruto.

"Good. I don't need _her_ rushing to challenge me to a rematch," spoke Itachi.

Itachi took Naruto to grab a few things for their dinner. Naruto kept asking about the kyuubi's fight, to which Itachi continued to say Naruto should ask the kyuubi. Naruto grunted and gave up halfway through the meal. That night, Naruto pondered how he would deal with Itachi the next day, knowing it was his turn. His thoughts were interrupted by his body's need for sleep, as he drifted off, not making a sound for the rest of the night. The next day after breakfast, Naruto began to head towards the field. However, Itachi seemed uninterested in returning to the training field.

"Are we not training today?" asked Naruto.

"We will, but in a different way. I said I would teach you the ways of the world as well, right? I have several training scrolls with me. After days of physical training, I would train my mind, as well. Both you and the kyuubi will review these scrolls every third day. I'll start you out with basic taijutsu scrolls, since that is our focus. I'll mix in scrolls about the history of the world, as well, and test you on the information within on occasion," explained Itachi.

"Do I have to? I think I'll learn more from fighting you," replied Naruto.

"You won't. It is necessary to train the mind, too. Now, read through these basic taijutsu scrolls, and practice some of the moves on your own. I will go out and work on my personal training. I expect to see some form of progress when we resume our physical training," spoke Itachi.

"Fine, I'll read through it," spoke Naruto.

"Good," replied Itachi, as he left. Naruto began looking through the scrolls. He was determined not to enjoy it, as was the kyuubi. However, as they started getting deeper into the scrolls, they quickly became interested at the knowledge they held. The two started practicing the different forms as they continued to read along. Before the two knew it, the day was already over. Itachi returned to see Naruto practicing a basic defensive stance. Itachi noted to himself that the form was sloppy, and left many holes, but it was an improvement over his lack of defense from the fights of the two previous days. Itachi made a small smile as he announced his presence to Naruto. The young blond didn't even notice Itachi's arrival, as he was too involved in his studies. For the next year, Itachi would continue to train Naruto in this way, sparring two days, then leaving him to study for the third day before repeating the process again. Itachi always dominated the fights, never receiving a single blow. Slowly but surely, though, Naruto was beginning to improve. Itachi was greatly amused. Naruto's taijutsu forms were still genin level, but he was making progress. Itachi could see Naruto's potential, and looked forward to his training spars with the boy.

Madara continued looking into members for Akatsuki. He pursued rumors of the Kiri-nin who killed Mizu's daimyou. He was led to Hoshigaki Kisame, Kirigakure no Kaijin. _(Scourge of the Hidden Mist)_

"_Hoshigaki Kisame? Interesting person. It took me so long to find him. Now that I've confirmed his location and identity, I should report him to Pein. I'm sure he has an idea of how to bring him in," _Madara thought to himself, as he made his way for a cave that he could use to communicate with the established leader of Akatsuki.

_A/N: I originally intended for most of the members to be established, but changed my mind halfway through the chapter, realizing that Akatsuki would likely have only had a few members at this point in time. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review._


	3. Rebirth

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; if I did, it would be called Akatsuki_

_A/N: Sorry for the delay in my releases; I've been without access to the Internet for a couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience, and enjoy the chapter._

**Chapter 3: Rebirth**

"This Hoshigaki Kisame does interest me. He has the potential to become one of our strongest members," spoke Pein.

"I thought you would say something along those lines. He has a great amount of chakra, the most I've seen in a person since the day I met you," replied Madara.

"I have great interest in meeting this man personally. Did you make contact," asked Pein.

"No, not yet. I've heard rumors of a powerful shinboi from Iwa. I'm about to pursue a lead on him, as well," spoke Madara.

"Very well, I'll send Orochimaru and Sasori. They are closest to the area," replied Pein.

"Send Itachi and the boy, too. They aren't too much farther off. It would do the boy some good to meet some more powerful shinobi, that, and I don't believe either of them have met in person with our other members as of yet," spoke Madara.

"Very well. Kakuzu and Shikei are near Tsuchi no Kuni. I'll keep them in the area, should you need them to make contact with this Iwa-nin," spoke Pein.

"That should allow things to go more swiftly. I should keep the number of members I recruit to a minimum. The less who know of my true identity, the better," spoke Madara.

"I understand. I bid you farewell, Madara-sama," spoke Pein.

Madara nodded as the image of Pein before him disappeared.

"That takes care of that. I think I'll take the long way to Tsuchi no Kuni. It takes all the fun out of it when I use _that_ jutsu," spoke Madara to himself, as he left the cave he was using to establish communication with Pein.

"I have you now, Itachi!" shouted the kyuubi, as she willed Naruto's body to direct a blow to Itachi's midsection. Itachi dodged the main force of the blow, but was surprised to see a small scratch appear on his body.

"So, you've learned a little something of speed, have you?" asked Itachi.

"I told you things would get more interesting as I continue to unlock my power. I'm up to the second tail now, and I can even take my natural appearance," spoke the kyuubi. She had adjusted Naruto's body to resemble hers, in order to make it easier for her to use his body. Itachi was awestruck at first by the beauty the strongest bijuu, but closed his gaping mouth before the woman could land a hit on his jaw. Itachi had taught both Naruto and the kyuubi some basic ninjutsu, as well. Itachi saw Naruto's potential for making full use of kage bunshin no jutsu _(shadow clone technique)_ in order to accelerate his training. Something Itachi felt would be essential, given they were constantly being targeted by hunter-nin. The two were presently training on the eastern border of Hi no Kuni, near a deserted village. Itachi wanted to show Naruto the results of war. During the Third Ninja War, the village was destroyed by a shinobi force attempting to strike into the heart of Hi no Kuni opposite of the front lines. Their intention was to catch Konoha off guard. The group was defeated by a squad of shinobi hidden in a village located along a path that led straight to Konoha.

The kyuubi was smiling as she dispelled a clone she had reading through a scroll of advanced taijutsu forms. She put the knowledge to use by ducking a set of Itachi's strikes. She made use of an opening, and nearly landed a solid hit on Itachi. The Uchiha was about to respond when both felt the presence of Pein.

"A meeting now?" spoke Itachi.

"I wonder what he wants?" asked the kyuubi.

"Let Naruto have his body back and keep an eye open. Let's see what Leader-sama wants to discuss," spoke Itachi.

"Fair enough," spoke the kyuubi, as she returned control to Naruto. Naruto dropped the disguise immediately, grumbling about how it didn't feel right to return to a woman's body. Naruto and Itachi found a spot obscured by foliage, sat down, and closed their eyes, making contact with their leader. Pein had assembled a group of members in a cave in Kawa no Kuni. The images of three other members appeared before Naruto and Itachi.

"That's everyone," spoke Pein.

"What is it you wish to discuss, Pein-sama?" asked Itachi.

"I have a mission for the four of you. We've found a potential new member, and I wish for you four to recruit him," spoke Pein.

"A new member, eh? Who is this person?" asked a person with snake-like eyes.

"Hoshigaki Kisame of Kirigakure," replied Pein.

"I've heard of him. He killed the daimyou of Mizu no Kuni, and has been in hiding ever since," spoke Itachi.

"Correct. We've established his location on one of the outlying islands of Mizu no Kuni. I'm sending Zetsu to meet with you to give you the final details. He will meet with you in Higashikou," spoke Pein.

"We're already in the area. What of you two?" spoke a short shadow with a gruff voice.

"We're about half a day from there," spoke Itachi.

"Very well. We will see you there tonight. Do not be late," spoke the short shadow before disappearing with the shadow with snake eyes.

"Is there something else?" asked Pein.

"Am I to be a part of this mission?" asked Naruto.

"You are. I would advise the two of you to get moving," spoke Pein.

"Hai, Leader-sama," spoke Naruto and Itachi.

The pair opened their eyes to the place they hid themselves.

"It would seem that our training has been cut short for the time being," spoke Itachi.

"So it would seem," replied Naruto.

The pair packed up their supplies and made their way for the port city of Higashikou. The pair arrived at the small city by nightfall.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find the other two, should it?" asked Naruto.

"Our uniforms are rather unique. By the same token, it's best to avoid being obvious. Use a henge. I can use my Sharingan to find them. They should be the strongest chakra sources here," spoke Itachi.

Naruto nodded as the pair donned a disguise to help them blend in with the citizens of the city.

"They're likely at one of the hotels. They have no reason to walk the village, right?" asked Naruto.

"They may be in need of supplies. Port cities, such as this one, are good places to find what you need," replied Itachi.

"Ah, I guess that makes sense," spoke Naruto.

The pair walked through the main streets of the city. Itachi was carefully observing the chakra levels of the citizens of the village. At the end of the market district, Itachi located the pair they were looking for in one of the small hotels in the area.

"Decided to go less formal, did they? As they should. It would be a waste of money to get a larger room in a more expensive hotel," spoke Itachi.

"Is that why we always stay in those 'dumps' with the bad food?" asked Naruto.

"Be lucky we stay anywhere besides out in the fields. I still consider it a waste to get a room at all," replied Itachi.

"There are some things you can't do while out on the field, though. Taking a bath, for instance. You can't tell me that isn't important," spoke Naruto.

"I suppose not, but there are bath houses you can use that cost less than getting a room in a hotel," replied Itachi.

"True. Well, there is a better sense of security. It is a little harder to sneak up on someone in a room than out on the open field," spoke Naruto.

"That's not true, either. An expert can find you in a hotel as easily as if you were out in the open. Bear in mind I just found two members of our organization, which consists of individuals who are supposed to be the best of shinobi," replied Itachi.

"But they wanted us to find them. They would have made it a little harder on us if they didn't want us to find them, wouldn't they?" asked Naruto.

"You have a point, but they would still take some degree of caution," spoke Itachi, as the pair entered the building.

"Ah, hello, can I help you two out?" asked the woman at the desk.

"We're here to see a couple of friends," replied Itachi.

"Oh? You know what room they are in?" asked the woman.

"Hai, they told us which room they were staying in. They're up on the third floor," replied Itachi.

"Oh, yes, I did have a pair pay for a room up there that claimed to be expecting someone. Go on ahead, then," replied the woman.

Itachi and Naruto nodded as the pair made their way upstairs. Itachi led the pair to the room where the other two members of Akatsuki were staying. Itachi knocked and awaited a response. The door was opened by a tall, well-built man with short, wavy blond hair.

"Uh... hi?" asked the man.

"Akatsuki," spoke Itachi.

"Oh? Took you long enough," spoke the man, as his voice changed from a jovial one to that of a more gruff individual. The man led the pair into the room and closed the door. The other occupant of the room put a sound barrier on the door and windows. The group of four dropped their disguises. Itachi recognized the second occupant of the room.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin? I see, so the rumors of you being a member were true," spoke Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi? I was looking forward to meeting you. To have killed off your entire clan on your own is no small feat," replied Orochimaru.

"I'm honored to be in the presence of someone of your reputation," spoke Itachi.

"Who is this child with you? It seems uncharacteristic for someone like you," asked Orochimaru.

"I am the kyuubi no jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh? Is that so? I heard there were two jinchuuriki connected to the organization. I didn't expect our little village's jinchuuriki to be one of them. Very interesting," spoke Orochimaru.

"His grudge against he Uchiha led him to aid me in the attack on my clan. Though he had no formal training at the time, the bijuu within him allowed him to slaughter several members of my clan. He is not to be underestimated, though, I will say that he is far inferior to any of us," explained Itachi.

Naruto huffed at the comment.

"I see. Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Akasuna no Sasori."

"The one dismissed from his village for the 'inhumane desecration' of human corpses, and the only kugutsu no jutsu _(puppet technique) _user to use hitokugutsu? _(human puppets)_" asked Itachi.

"The same," replied Sasori.

"Have you met with Zetsu?" asked Itachi.

"He has yet to arrive. We expect to see him sometime during the day tomorrow," spoke Orochimaru.

"I see," spoke Itachi, "we'll get a room for ourselves, then."

"That is not necessary. This room can easily accommodate the four of us, that's why we chose it," replied Orochimaru.

"Very well. How much do we owe you for the room?" asked Itachi.

"Always straight to the point, are you? There's no need," replied Orochimaru.

"Arigatou," replied Itachi.

"We knew you would be coming here, and decided to wait for you before dining. Come," spoke Orochimaru. The group made their way out of the room. They chose a restaurant near the hotel. Orochimaru refused to allow Itachi to pay any part of the bill. Orochimaru explained the pair had recently cashed in a large bounty, providing them with extra funds. The group spent most of the meal discussing their pasts and the strategies they employed in battle. After their meal, the group returned to their hotel room to resume their conversation.

"So, you're a genjutsu master, are you?" asked Sasori.

"Hai. I've trained myself in the other disciplines, but I prefer to use genjutsu. It allows me to end most battles quickly, as well as to avoid unnecessary fighting," replied Itachi.

"A sound strategy. Quick in and quick out is also my preference. I prefer not to waste time that could be devoted to more important matters," replied Sasori.

"You two take things too seriously," spoke Orochimaru.

"You take too much time in a fight," replied Sasori.

"I prefer psychological warfare, something I'm sure a genjutsu user such as yourself could appreciate," explained Orochimaru.

"It has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you go about it," replied Itachi.

"I attempt to see all that my opponent can do before breaking them. I prefer to learn as much about their strategies and jutsu as I can before eliminating them. If they prove truly worthy, I'll even leave them alive to perform experiments on them," spoke Orochimaru.

"As I would expect from the 'genius' of the Sannin," replied Itachi.

"I've learned many different arts, as well as their counters," spoke Orochimaru.

"So, you're an intellectual, then?" asked Itachi.

"That's one way of looking at it. I wish to learn and master all of the jutsu of the world. This is the best way for me to accomplish my goal," replied Orochimaru.

"There is one more part to your goal that you are forgetting," spoke Sasori.

"Seems like his idea is sound to me," spoke Naruto.

"No, it's not. There is one issue that I am trying to address. I have a limited amount of time to accomplish my goal," replied Orochimaru.

"It would require several lifetimes to learn and master all of the jutsu of the world, and that's just the jutsu that are known to be implemented now," spoke Itachi.

"Correct. There are always new jutsu being created everyday. If I truly wish to learn them all, I must find a way to gain some degree of immortality, something I've put much effort into researching," replied Orochimaru.

"There is my method," spoke Sasori.

"That is something I've thought about, something I'll use if I can find no alternative. However, my research has met a turning point. I may be close to finding a way," replied Orochimaru.

"Is that so?" asked Itachi.

"I believe his method still needs work, but I do find it of interest," spoke Sasori.

"Something to keep in mind, should I have a need to live forever," spoke Itachi.

"You have no desire to live forever, Itachi-san?" asked Naruto.

"I have no need to live forever. It is the natural order of things. Life and death are part of the world, a cycle that nature does not allow to be broken," spoke Itachi.

"I agree with your logic, but finding a way to achieve immortality has its uses. Orochimaru has given his. Mine is to continue to perfect my art and evolve it to its highest point, something that I believe will also take several lifetimes to accomplish," replied Sasori.

"Interesting," spoke Itachi.

"Child, I've been wanting to ask you, but why become a part of this organization?" asked Orochimaru.

"Konoha abandoned me, and I wish to be able to get even with them," replied Naruto.

"That's all? Something as petty as simple revenge?" asked Orochimaru.

"What did you plan to do after you got your revenge?" asked Sasori.

"I haven't even thought about it," replied Naruto.

"Your too simple minded, child. You need to find other goals in life if you wish to truly make something of yourself," spoke Sasori.

"Perhaps... I need to get stronger... to become the strongest is one of my goals, as well," replied Naruto.

"That's a start. The pieces will fall into place one by one as you grow," spoke Sasori.

"Who wants to know my goals," spoke the kyuubi, as she overtook Naruto's body.

Sasori and Orochimaru took note of changes in Naruto's appearance and mannerisms. Naruto performed the seals for a type of henge no jutsu _(transformation technique)_, allowing Naruto to take the kyuubi's human form.

"Oh, so the mighty Kyuubi no Youko is a girl, eh?" asked Orochimaru.

"A 'girl?'" spoke the kyuubi, as one of her tails wrapped itself around Orochimaru.

"It is wise to treat everyone with respect," spoke Sasori. Orochimaru nodded, prompting the kyuubi to release the snake sannin.

"You were about to slip out. I was hoping it wouldn't have been so easy to kill you," spoke the kyuubi.

"Indeed. So, what are your goals, since you seem to have interest in sharing them with us," spoke Orochimaru.

"Protecting this child has become my task. I wish to help him in achieving his revenge, as well. I've also decided to better myself, much as the child. My other goals are... personal," replied the kyuubi.

"Very well. Your personal goals are your own," replied Sasori.

"We should get to sleep. It's getting late," spoke Itachi.

'It is, isn't it? Very well," replied Sasori.

The group decided on guard shifts and went to sleep. The night brought no incident as the sun rose to start the morning. The group packed up, paid for their room, and made their way to the port. Zetsu was there waiting for the group.

"I take it you are Zetsu?" asked Orochimaru.

"Correct," replied Zetsu, "This is the map with Hoshigaki Kisame's location. This scroll is to be offered to him upon joining. Use whatever means necessary to persuade him," spoke Zetsu's black side.

"Take care not to kill him," spoke Zetsu's white side.

Sasori opted to hold onto the map and the scroll intended for Kisame. The scroll was marked with the kanji 南 _(nan, south)_.

"Anything else we should know?" asked Itachi.

"Hoshigaki Kisame has a high level of chakra. High enough to rival that of one of the weaker bijuu," replied Zetsu.

"So that's why Leader-sama has taken such an interest in him," spoke Orochimaru.

"Be careful, as a former member of Kiri's Nananin, he is not to be taken lightly," replied Zetsu.

"Understood," replied the group of four present.

"Do not fail," spoke Zetsu, as he disappeared into the ground.

"Bossy, isn't he?" asked Orochimaru.

"He often acts as our leader's proxy. Given his unique talents, it suits him well," spoke Sasori.

"Let's go," spoke Itachi.

The group made their way onto a ferry heading for Samenoura, the island where Kisame was currently residing.

"I doubt he's still in the exact same place marked on this map," spoke Naruto.

"Only an idiot shinobi would remain in the same place for any duration of time, especially when they're being hunted," replied Orochimaru.

"That's what's expected of him. He may choose to remain here. I would try to spread rumors of my being elsewhere, if I were him," spoke Itachi.

"Would you? It's not the best strategy, but it could work with the right person," spoke Sasori, "So, how do you think he would act in his situation, given what we know about him."

"Likely, he would continue to observe the actions taken by the shinobi passing in and out of Kiri. Since this is on the edge of Mizu no Kuni, far enough from the mainland to not be under constant surveillance, but close enough so one could still have some idea of what is taking place there. Most likely, any shinobi that would run into him would be doing so by chance, and would likely be unable to do him in on their own. It would require a team of specialists in order to bring in someone of his level. He's still here, hiding himself as best as he can, but he's still here," explained Itachi.

"I agree with Itachi-san. He has no reason to leave, and could easily overpower most shinobi he would run into," spoke Naruto.

"We've come to the same conclusion," replied Sasori.

"He has no reason to run like a coward. We only need to find the best hiding place on this island," spoke Orochimaru.

"Then we are in agreement. He was spotted here before," spoke Sasori, while pointing to a building marked on the map, "There are several other buildings in this area that are rumored to have access to hidden passageways underground. We don't know for sure if these passageways exist, or what they are used for."

"I can help with that," spoke Itachi.

"How?" asked Sasori.

"The Sharingan," spoke Orochimaru.

"So you know something of the abilities of our clan doujutsu?" asked Itachi.

"Hai. I know of its ability to copy the jutsu it witnesses, allowing the user the ability to use the move for his or herself. The limit being kekkei genkai, as one is unable to copy a jutsu one's body cannot physically perform," replied Orochimaru.

"And I take it you know of it's ability to see chakra forms?" asked Itachi.

"Correct. It's not able to see chakra to the level of the Byakugan of the Hyuga, but more than able to find if there's something like an underground passageway below a building," replied Orochimaru.

"I figure if someone like this Kisame is using these passages, then they should be easily picked up on by my eyes," replied Itachi.

"Good to know. That building is in this district in the northern block of the island. Let's go," spoke Sasori.

The team of Akatsuki members walked through the streets of the island. The further they got into the island, the worse it became. Criminal activity appeared to be high in the district Kisame was believed to be located. The group witnessed several bandits attacking the few remaining shops along the streets. A group of ten bandits approached the team of Akatsuki.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? You guys look rather well off. Give us everything you have, or else we'll kill you," spoke the leader of the bandits.

"Oh? Give up all our possessions or die? Interesting, these guys think they could beat us," spoke Naruto.

"Even you could beat all of them on your own," spoke Itachi, "You should all know any attempts on our lives will end only in your own deaths. I would advise you to find another target."

"Cocky, aren't you? We're the strongest of the bandit gangs on this island, the Arai Tora Kyoutou _(Wild Tiger Gang)_!" shouted the leader of group. The name brought attention to the tears on their shirts resembling the stripes of tigers.

"Never heard of you before," spoke Itachi.

"Why you! Get them!!" shouted the leader of gang.

The bandits began their charge towards the group, drawing a look of annoyance from each member of the group. Two of the bandits were impaled by Sasori's scorpion tail. Three were torn apart by a group of snakes flying out of the sleeves of Orochimaru's cloak. Three more were paralyzed by Itachi's genjutsu before being cut down. The leader and remaining member acted quickly and grabbed Naruto, hoping to hold him hostage.

"Now, give up everything you have, or the brat dies!" shouted the leader of the group.

"Oh, please save me, you have to give up your stuff, or else they'll kill me," spoke Naruto in a plain, sarcastic tone.

"Shut up, brat!" shouted the man holding Naruto. The man attempted to twist Naruto's arm. Naruto escaped his grasp, and slit the man's throat. The bandit leader backed off in horror as blood covered the body of the child.

"Get away from me, you freaks!!" shouted the bandit leader, before he charged off. Naruto frowned and help a kunai steady in his hand. Naruto threw it into the back of the bandits head, killing him instantly.

"Damn..." muttered Naruto.

"You got him, didn't you?" asked Orochimaru.

"I was aiming for his neck. I need to work more on my aim," replied Naruto.

"Oh, I see. You're rather brutal aren't you?" asked Orochimaru.

Naruto said nothing as he returned to the group.

"He was timid about killing at first, even feeling guilt over killing those attempting to kill him. However, after a year of having to deal with shinobi pursuing us, and being forced to kill in such situations, it no longer bothers him. On top of that, his bijuu is a rather bloodthirsty creature," explained Itachi.

"Is that so? And for someone of his age, interesting," spoke Orochimaru.

"We should continue," spoke Sasori, showing his usual level of impatience.

The group continued along. Those who witnessed the fight the Akatsuki members had with the Arai Tora Kyoutou avoided the group. Some ran away from them in fear. Some of the merchants gave their thanks to the group, though they found their words were ignored. The Akatsuki members found the building Kisame was found in and entered. Itachi activated his Sharingan, and took a look around for any signs of an underground passageway network.

"Hmm... there are several chakra signatures below, all relatively weak. There is a network down there, but no sign of Hoshigaki Kisame.

"If that network is there, he'll likely be found through it," spoke Orochimaru, "Now then, would any of you gentlemen happen to know where the entrance to the underground passage is located?"

The people there ignored Orochimaru, prompting a frown from the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru sent a snake to wrap around the neck of the person closest to him.

"Now, about that underground passage?" asked Orochimaru.

"In the back... behind the freezer..." muttered the man, as he struggled for air.

"Arigatou," replied Orochimaru, as he dropped the man.

The group proceeded to the back. The people present gave harsh stares to the group, only to be shaken to their core by the killing intent rolling off of the group of four. The entrance to the passage was located precisely where the man said it would be. The group entered to be approached by another group of individuals.

"I don't know who the Hell you are, but you can't..."

The group approaching the members of Akatsuki were all torn apart by Sasori's scorpion tail before being able to react.

"I grow tired of these interruptions," spoke Sasori.

"Fair enough, but try not to kill everyone you see. We may have to ask someone about where Kisame is now," replied Orochimaru.

Sasori grunted in response as the group walked through the underground passage. Itachi kept his Sharingan active, looking for signs of someone with a high level of chakra.

"He's concealing himself well. He should stand out like a flame in the darkness, but I can't find him at all," spoke Itachi.

"I didn't expect this to be easy. If he's been seen, he won't be forgotten by the individuals who found him," spoke Sasori.

"Let's ask the next person we find, then," spoke Itachi.

The group continued along, walking around another bend when they ran into a man walking through the tunnels on his own. The group surrounded the man, who put his hands up in response.

"Hey, I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to get past some people who have a desire to kill me," spoke the man.

"We'll kill you before they catch up to you if you don't answer our questions," spoke Itachi.

"Alright, what do you need to know?" asked the man.

"We're looking for a man known as Hoshigaki Kisame," spoke Itachi.

"Hoshigaki... Kisame? That freak from Kiri?" asked the man.

"Correct," replied Itachi.

"Hmm... I know he's here, and I have an idea of where he might be. What do you need him for?" asked the man.

"That's not of your concern," spoke Sasori.

"One more thing," spoke Itachi.

"And what would that be?" asked the man.

"Drop the henge," replied Itachi.

"Oh, saw through it, did you. You must be shinobi. Hmm... a slashed hitai-ate... it would seem you are on the run as well... from Konoha... and those eyes, that would make you Uchiha Itachi," spoke the man.

Itachi had his katana at the man's throat.

"My my, a little quick on the draw, aren't you?" asked the man.

"I can't allow someone to recognize me. It's nothing personal," replied the man.

"Oh? What about you guys? Let's see... you must be Orochimaru of Konoha. You look like Akasuna no Sasori of Suna. Odd mix of individuals, seeing as your villages aren't known for getting along well in the past. I don't know who you are," spoke the man.

"You won't get the chance," spoke Naruto, as Itachi cut through the man's neck. The man's body turned into water.

"Mizu bunshin? _(Water Clone)_" muttered Itachi.

The man quickly appeared behind Itachi, holding a large weapon to his back.

"Too bad, looks like I get to live," spoke the man.

"Do you?" asked Itachi from behind the man. The Itachi before the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Those eyes allowed you to see right through that, didn't they?" asked the man.

"They did," replied Itachi.

"Alright, I guess I can reveal myself to you, then," spoke the man, as his form was shrouded in smoke. Out of the smoke emerged a tall, pale blue man with shark-like features.

"Alright, what do you want with me? You would have used that genjutsu of yours if you were hunting me, so what do you want?" asked the revealed Kisame.

"We are here to invite you into our organization," replied Itachi.

"Your organization? What organization would that be?" asked Kisame.

"Akatsuki. We are a group of the strongest individuals of the hidden shinobi villages. Our leader heard of your exploits, and has taken interest in your abilities," spoke Itachi.

"Oh, has he now? Alright, I'll bite. What's in this for me?" asked Kisame.

"Power. The power to attain your goals through the realization of the groups goals," replied Sasori.

"And your goals being?" asked Kisame.

"In short, the collapse of the shinobi nations," spoke Orochimaru.

"Quite the lofty goal. I take it by collapse of the shinobi villages, you also mean Kiri, right?" asked Kisame.

"Correct," spoke Itachi.

"It would seem your goals fit mine just fine. If I can get a chance at crushing Kiri, I'll take it. Alright, I'll join, but if it seems like we're getting no where, I'm leaving. I have other means to meet my goal," replied Kisame.

"I doubt any of them are as promising as joining us. You seem to know something of our reputations. Joining up with powerful allies would certainly allow you to reach your goal faster, would it not?" asked Itachi.

"You have a point. So, what is there to joining this 'Akatsuki?'" asked Kisame.

"Take this outfit; it's yours, and marks you as a member of our group. After that, we need to find a secluded place where we can make contact with our leader," explained Sasori.

"Oh? Just how do you plan on doing that?" asked Kisame.

"Read through the information scroll sealed within here," replied Sasori, as he handed Kisame the scroll containing his uniform. Kisame unsealed the scroll, and placed on the cloak and ring. He read the information on the odd piece of metal that was meant to go into his neck. He appeared hesitant at first, until he caught site of the one in back of Naruto's neck. He figured if it didn't hurt a child, it wouldn't do a thing to him. Kisame took the group to a closed off portion of the tunnel that he claimed never received any traffic.

"This is the safest place for you to make contact with this yuutai ridatsu no jutsu _(astral projection technique)_ of yours," replied Kisame.

"Very well. I'm sure he's waiting for us to make contact," spoke Sasori, as he closed his eyes. The other members of the group did the same.

"I take it from the appearance of another individual that you were successful?" asked Pein.

"Hai, Leader-sama spoke the members of Akatsuki.

"So, you are their leader, are you?" asked Kisame.

"Hai, Hoshigaki Kisame. What do you hope to gain with us?" asked Pein.

"I'd like to crush Kiri. I hear you plan on wiping out the shinobi villages, so we should get along just fine," replied Kisame.

"I see. Very well. We work in teams of two. Each official member is paired up with another. Itachi, I have decided Kisame will be your partner," spoke Pein.

"Understood," replied Itachi.

"So, I get to work with the infamous Uchiha Itachi? Sounds like fun," spoke Kisame.

"Keep an ear open for further orders. For now, you are dismissed. Sasori, Orochimaru, continue your reconnaissance mission. Itachi, Kisame, Naruto, attempt to learn about each other and how to coordinate your strategies in battle," spoke Pein.

"Hai, Leader-sama," spoke the members of Akatsuki.

The group in Mizu no Kuni opened their eyes to see the low lighting of the tunnel. They took up their disguises and made their way through the island and back to the mainland of Hi no Kuni. The two teams split off, with Sasori and Orochimaru resuming their mission, while Itachi and Naruto took Kisame to the place they were working on their training.

"So, Itachi, I've been meaning to ask, but what's with the kid?" asked Kisame.

"He was a villager of Konoha. He was regularly beaten and assaulted until he left the village with me a year ago," replied Itachi.

"Oh? Why would people assault a child?" asked Kisame.

"He's a jinchuuriki," replied Itachi.

"A jinchuuriki, eh? Kiri used to have one for a while, until he died. His bijuu took this human form, and joined the Kiri shinobi. It was quite the surprise to everyone to see him among our shinobi," spoke Kisame.

"You work under the assumption that all bijuu are crazed monsters with a love of destruction, don't you?" asked Naruto.

"I did, but not anymore. Don't take it personally, kid. Rumors can do that to a being's reputation," replied Kisame.

"Those rumors are what caused me to go through Hell for the first few years of my life. I don't speak lightly of it," spoke Naruto.

"Alright, I'll try to be a little more understanding. Which bijuu do you hold, anyway?" asked Kisame.

"The Kyuubi no Youko," replied Naruto.

"Oh, I see. I heard that bijuu attacked Konoha right around the time you were born. So, they were able to seal it, eh? Not bad, Konoha lost quite the powerful weapon when they cut you loose," spoke Kisame.

Naruto grunted in response.

"Where are we going?" asked Kisame.

"To an abandoned village. We were using the place to train. I was also attempting to teach this one a little something about history," replied Itachi.

"Is that so? Fair enough. That leader guy did say we needed to practice working together. If you were training already, then I guess you won't have to adjust your schedules too much," spoke Kisame.

The trio arrived at the village at the end of the day. The group made camp for the night and rested up. The next morning started in an abrupt manner for the group.

"Hi!!" shouted a voice, startling the group.

"What the Hell!?" shouted Kisame, as he wasn't aware of anyone being in the area.

"Hi! I'm Tobi!!" shouted a man in an orange spiral mask.

"Oh, Tobi. You cut your hair and changed your mask, did you?" asked Itachi.

"Tobi did, Tobi did! Do you like it, Itachi-san?"

"It's an improvement, I suppose. To what do we owe the 'pleasure' of your company?" asked Itachi.

"Oh, Tobi has to talk to Naruto-san about something."

"Alright, Naruto, did you hear that?" asked Itachi.

"Unfortunately..." muttered Naruto.

"Get to it. We'll begin your training as soon as you come back," replied Itachi.

"Oh boy, sounds like fun," spoke Naruto, as he got up, and joined the masked-nin. The pair made their way for a small clearing hidden in the surrounding forest.

"Do you have to put up that act every time you come out to bother us about something?" asked Naruto.

"My identity is an important secret. I've explained this to you several times already," replied Madara.

"Yeah, yeah, so, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Naruto.

"I've completed that jutsu I told you about. The one that will allow me to separate you from your bijuu," replied Madara.

"You did? I see. What is involved in its completion?" asked Naruto.

"A lot of seals. It takes some time to set up everything," replied Madara.

"And what of the risks. You told me before there would be risks," spoke Naruto.

"The risks are minimal, don't worry about it," replied Madara.

"I don't trust you, and you know it. Now, what are the risks?" asked the kyuubi, as she overtook Naruto.

"My, my, aren't you the bothersome jinchuuriki? Alright, it may cause some injury to the boy, but nothing serious. That's why I said there is no need to worry about it," replied Madara.

"Is that so?" asked the kyuubi.

"I put a lot of effort into making sure the process would not kill or bring harm to either of you. As I said, it's not a simple process. The original process I intended to use sacrificed the jinchuuriki for the sake of the bijuu. I had to rework it quite a lot to allow the jinchuuriki to survive. This is the best I can do," explained Madara.

"Fine, so be it, but, if the boy dies, you'll die," replied the kyuubi, as she returned control of Naruto's body.

"I heard what you said, but... I want her to be free. She doesn't deserve to be locked up inside of me like a prisoner," spoke Naruto.

"Aren't we the bold one, not caring of the risks, so quick to be able to help her out? Fine, so be it. I have to gather a few supplies for the process. Be ready early tomorrow morning. I would advise you to avoid straining yourself too much today. The process will put an immense strain on your body. That's something I can't avoid. The only thing you have working for you is that you are still a child. That should help allay the risk somewhat," explained Madara.

"I don't care, I want her to be free," replied Naruto.

"Suit yourself. Until tomorrow, ja ne," spoke Madara, as he teleported away.

Naruto returned to where Kisame and Itachi were. The two were having a spar. Itachi was holding back a strike from Kisame's large sword. Itachi had quickly spun around and knocked the weapon out of Kisame's hands. Itachi kicked Kisame away and quickly retrieved Kisame's weapon. Itachi ran at Kisame, bearing the shark-nin's sword. Before Itachi could strike, spikes erupted from the handle, forcing Itachi to drop the weapon. Kisame picked up his weapon with a smile on his face.

"The Samehada chooses its wielder. It's impossible for anyone besides me to use this weapon," spoke Kisame.

"Interesting. I heard that the members of Kiri's Nananin used unique weapons. I see the rumors were true," replied Itachi.

"News of our group and its actions are spread far and wide. I'm sure you've heard quite a few things about us. Too bad the Sandaime Mizukage left us with such a weakling in charge. That's what caused us to split up," spoke Kisame.

"I see. If that's the case, why did you kill the daimyou, rather than the Mizukage?" asked Itachi.

"The Yondaime Mizukage was chosen by the daimyou. My killing him was revenge for his poor decision making skills. That, and he probably would have put another weakling in charge," replied Kisame.

"I see," replied Itachi.

"Itachi-san, Kisame-san!" shouted Naruto.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, what did Tobi have to tell you?" asked Itachi.

"He has a 'jutsu' to show me, or something like that. He told me to be ready to see it tomorrow morning," replied Naruto.

"Him showing you a jutsu? And he couldn't tell us about it? Interesting," spoke Itachi.

"_It would seem that he finished his bijuu extraction jutsu. I didn't expect it to be ready for another year,"_ thought Itachi.

"What is up with that guy, anyway, and why do you pay him any mind?" asked Kisame.

"He's an associate of Akatsuki," replied Itachi.

"Him? He doesn't look like he fits in with the rest of you," spoke Kisame.

"He's... unique. Leader-sama claims he is of some use, so we put up with him. The only skill he's ever demonstrated clearly, though, is running," replied Itachi.

"I see," spoke Kisame, "Well, still, it's not such a bad idea to have someone like him around. Strong or not, it's nice to have someone around who can brighten up the mood."

"If that's what you think. You would be the first to believe him of some good use," replied Itachi, "So, Naruto, are you ready to continue your training?"

"I think I'll study scrolls today. I was almost finished with the advanced taijutsu scrolls. It would be beneficial if I finish them before we have another spar," replied Naruto.

"I see, very well," spoke Itachi.

"_It would be best for him not to strain himself. From what Madara has told me of that jutsu, it places a heavy strain on the jinchuuriki. Not surprising, since his original intention was to kill off the jinchuuriki," _thought Itachi.

"Well, if the brat won't keep you company, I'm up for a little fun," spoke Kisame.

"Is that so?" asked Itachi, while activating his Sharingan. Kisame made the mistake of looking Itachi in the eye.

"What the Hell!?" shouted Kisame, as his world was bathed in an eerie red light.

"This is my world," spoke Itachi.

"Shit! So, using one of you genjutsu, are you?" asked Kisame.

Kisame found himself bound to a wall the middle of a field. Itachi appeared before Kisame and looked him in the eye.

"This is one of my weaker genjutsu. If you can't deal with this, you'll only prove to be a hindrance. Let's see what your pain threshold is," spoke Itachi, as he jabbed a katana into Kisame's arm.

"Shit! Are you sure this is an illusion!" shouted Kisame.

Itachi's expression didn't change as he thrust a katana in Kisame's other arm. The shark-nin grunted as he struggled to break free of the genjutsu. Itachi looked on as Kisame erased the katana and broke free of wall. The color of the world returned to normal, and Kisame and Itachi found themselves staring into one another's eyes.

"Shit, that was some trip," spoke Kisame, "If that's what you call a weak genjutsu, I would hate to see what you call a strong genjutsu."

"You would," replied Itachi.

Itachi and Kisame resumed their kenjutsu duel while Naruto continued looking through taijutsu scrolls. He made a few kage bunshin to practice some of the stances he was looking through, but kept the number to a minimum, in order to avoid putting too much strain on himself.

"_Kit, are you sure you want to do this? I would consider waiting for him to work out that jutsu a little more before allowing him to perform it on me,"_ spoke the kyuubi.

"_I know you are concerned, but it's alright. Realistically, he can't make it better unless he practices it, right? What else can we do? I don't want you to have to be trapped in me anymore. You've been there since I was born, right? For five years, you had no one to speak to. It must have been so lonely in there. Even though you can interact with the outside world, it puts a lot of strain on you to do so while trapped behind that seal. I think this is the best for us both," _spoke Naruto.

"_If you say so, but I don't mind waiting. I would be upset if anything happened to you," _replied the kyuubi.

"_It's okay, I'll be fine. He said it wouldn't kill me. Once you're out, you'll be able to heal me, right? Don't worry about it," _spoke Naruto.

"_Kit..."_ muttered the kyuubi.

"_I'd like to be able talk to you face to face, in person, not from behind this cage,"_ spoke Naruto.

"_Alright, Kit, have it your way, then. But remember, don't trust him. Keep an eye on him while he's performing that jutsu. The moment you sense that something is wrong, channel my chakra to break the jutsu,"_ spoke the kyuubi.

"_Alright, I'll do that, if it'll make you feel better,"_ replied Naruto.

"_It does bring me some comfort. I wouldn't mind crushing his skull after he lets me out, if we didn't need to keep him around for the sake of Akatsuki. They'll help us realize our goal of revenge upon everyone who has hurt you,"_ spoke the kyuubi.

"_Right,"_ replied Naruto.

Naruto read through the scrolls for a few more hours, ate, and went to sleep. Itachi and Kisame kept up their duel sometime into the night, both losing track of the time. Neither one had experienced a true challenge in quite some time, and enjoyed being able to fight with someone who posed a challenge.

The next morning, Naruto awoke to find Madara sitting at the end of his sleeping bag.

"About time, sleepy head!" shouted Tobi.

"Uh... is this what you mean by early? Do you ever sleep?" asked Naruto.

"Sometimes. Tobi doesn't like to waste time sleeping."

"Whatever," replied Naruto, as he packed up his sleeping bag and joined Tobi/Madara at the clearing from before. There were several markings on the ground, all in some kind of ink that responded to chakra.

"Stand in the middle of the markings," spoke Madara.

"Sure," replied Naruto.

"_Kit, keep an eye on him,"_ spoke the kyuubi.

"_Understood,"_ replied Naruto.

"Okay, now listen up, this process is going to take a few days to complete. It'll work better if you willingly submit to it, of course, but it's impossible for the process to take less than two days. I've already told Itachi of this. Now then, are you ready?" asked Madara.

"I'm ready," replied Naruto.

"Very well. I'll need for you to take your shirt off. If possible, make your seal visible," spoke Madara.

"Okay," replied Naruto, as he exposed his stomach, and tapped into enough of the kyuubi's chakra to make the seal placed on him appear. Madara took out a brush and the ink he used to continue the seal pattern. The seals he made were put in place to surround the seal holding the kyuubi within Naruto's body.

"Alright, the preparations are complete," spoke Madara, as he began making a long chain of hand seals.

"Hijutsu: Hi no Bijuu Fuuin Shoushutsu! _(Secret Technique: Tailed Beast Seal Extraction of Fire)_" shouted Madara.

The chains of seals spread out on the ground appeared to light on fire at their ends. The flames resembled those of small candles. The flames remained still for a moment, flickering in the wind, before racing along the chain of seals. The flames made their way up onto Naruto's body, and surrounded the seal put in place to contain the kyuubi. Naruto could feel a burning sensation building up in the area around the seal. Naruto noted it was strange that the burning was coming from the kyuubi's seal, rather than the flames of Madara's seal. The flames of Madara's seal intensified, increasing the pain Naruto felt on his seal. The pain and flames continued to increase, causing Naruto to black out.

Naruto's eyes opened to see the familiar sewer system of his mind. Naruto noticed that the pipes appeared to be red hot, appearing to represent the seal Madara was performing. Naruto followed the heated pipes to the kyuubi's room. Naruto observed as the heated pipes appeared to stop right before the kyuubi's cage. The pipes were slowly heating up near the edge of the cage. It appeared as though the seal was holding the flames back.

"I've never faced a seal quite like this one before," came a voice from behind Naruto. Naruto turned around to see a person he had never seen before.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto.

"Hm? Right, I suppose you wouldn't recognize me like this. My consciousness has merged with yours for the time being. As we are free of the physical limitations of the outside world, I can appear to you like this here. Perhaps this will be a little more familiar?" asked the man as he took the familiar form of Madara.

"Madara?" asked Naruto.

"Correct," replied Madara, as he resumed the form he had before. He was dressed in red armor, and had longer, wavy hair. Both of his eyes held the form of a Sharingan Naruto had never seen before.

"Your eyes... is that a Sharingan? It's different from Itachi-san's, though," spoke Naruto.

"Kit, those are the eyes of the Mangekyou Sharingan," replied the kyuubi.

"Ah, so you remember, do you?" asked Madara.

"How could I forget. Those horrible eyes, the ones that put me under your spell. From how your physical body is, though, it would seem that you've lost those eyes," spoke the kyuubi.

"Very perceptive. You are correct, my Mangekyou was damaged when you were sealed. I was under the assumption they were sealed in here with you, but I see no such seal. However, I can't see all parts of the seal as of yet. This seal is something else, to say the least. It was created by a true genius in the art of fuuinjutsu. It's been quite the struggle just to get this far," spoke Madara.

"I'm willingly allowing you to do this, though, so shouldn't it be going faster?" asked Naruto.

"Getting past the blocks of your mind was easy. Even if I was acting against your will, I would have had no problem at all breaking through your mind. I'm assuming your will is not preventing my advancement, is it?" asked Madara.

"I want out. I'm wary of what this process is doing to Naruto-kun, but it doesn't appear to be causing him any serious strain," replied the kyuubi.

"I thought as much. It would seem that the will of the person who created the seal is within here somewhere, reinforcing the seal, keeping it from breaking," spoke Madara.

"You mean the will of the Yondaime Hokage?" asked the kyuubi.

"Correct. He almost appeared to be smiling, even in death. It's as if he saw something like this happening," replied Madara.

"The Yondaime Hokage? You knew him?" asked Naruto.

"I fought against him in battle. He seemed to be the only one capable of standing against me while I had the kyuubi under my control," replied Madara.

"I'm not sure whether I should thank him, or not, since he damaged those eyes of yours. It's a shame he couldn't think of a way to do that _without_ imprisoning me," spoke the kyuubi.

"I suppose so," spoke Madara.

The flaming pipes were beginning to reach the cage. Naruto fell down in pain as a result. The room they were in began to glow in response to the attack upon the seal.

"About time. Half a day has already passed in the outside world. I knew I would find my way in soon enough," spoke Madara.

"It... hurts... I can... feel it... fire... white hot... fire..." muttered Naruto.

"I warned you of this. There's little I can do. I have to go about it this way, or that seal will never break. I've been holding back as is," spoke Madara.

"_I doubt he's holding back. He can't hide the strain he's going through from me. He's giving it his all to break through this seal. Has he truly become this weak since losing his eyes?" _thought the kyuubi.

"It hurts.... so much..." muttered Naruto in tears.

"That's it, you'll have to find another way..."

"No... please don't..." spoke Naruto, interrupting the kyuubi, "I can bear it... don't stop him..."

"Kit..." muttered the kyuubi.

"Your resolve is strong. That's something I can admire. Someone as young as you having such determination," spoke Madara.

"You're encouraging him so you can continue. There's a thin line between courage and stupidity!" shouted the kyuubi.

"I can... handle it..." muttered Naruto, while gripping his stomach in pain. The bars began to glow red from the flames of the seal.

"It's been about a day and a half in the real world, now. I'm progressing, but slowly," spoke Madara.

"Will it take longer than three days?" asked the kyuubi.

"It might, it might not. I don't know for sure. That timing I gave before was a rough guess. It really depends on the seal, and how tough it is to break through it," replied Madara.

Madara continued to focus on breaking the seal set before him. The cage began to glow a bright red. The waters of the sewer looked as though they were boiling hot, though Madara was able to remain standing in place. At the end of the second day, the area around the piece of paper holding the core of the seal began to glow. It appeared as though the flames were about to devour it before being pushed back.

"What the Hell is going on!?" shouted Madara.

"What is it?" asked the kyuubi.

"Ah!!" shouted Naruto. He began screaming out in pain as Madara continued to assault the seal.

"Kit!! That's it, I'm putting an end to this!" shouted the kyuubi.

"I wouldn't, if I were you. If you act now, you'll kill him. The process is too far along to interrupt now. If you force it to end abruptly, you'll end up killing both yourself and the boy!" shouted Madara.

The kyuubi remained silent, grinding her teeth as Naruto continued to scream out.

"There's something pushing me back," spoke Madara.

As the flames around the seal ceased receding, the seal itself began to glow a bright white. Madara was in shock at what took place next.

"You!!" shouted Madara.

"It can't be!" shouted the kyuubi.

"So, it's you. I never imagined facing you again," spoke the form of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Namikaze Minato... once again, you stand in my way," spoke Madara.

"I can't allow you to take control of the kyuubi again. It would prove to be a disaster for Konoha.

"If you're saying that... then it's true, you did seal my eye, too. Clever," spoke Madara.

"Even in death, I must continue to protect my village," replied Minato.

"Ah!!" shouted Naruto.

"So, he is here," spoke Minato.

"You look like you know him... ah, I see," spoke Madara.

"He's your son, isn't he?" asked the kyuubi.

"The resemblance is uncanny. I was wondering how you were able to conveniently obtain a child for this seal of yours," spoke Madara.

"This ends now. I won't let you continue. I placed a part of my soul into this seal as a safeguard to prevent it from ever being broken. I have enough power to erase your consciousness forever," replied Minato.

"No... don't..." muttered Naruto.

"Naruto..." muttered Minato.

"If you really are... my father... than let him continue..." muttered Naruto.

"Naruto, you are still a child, so you probably can't see it, but he's using you to get to the kyuubi. If he gets his abilities back, he'll be unstoppable. He'll destroy the entire village. Is this what you want, Naruto?" asked Minato.

"After what they did to me... I don't care..." muttered Naruto.

"How could you say that? I was able to see from within your mind what they did to you, but not everyone was like that. There were those loyal to me who acted to protect you. The old man, the Sandaime, he did much to help you. He gave you an apartment, and money for food and supplies," spoke Minato.

"I..." muttered Naruto.

"You can't punish the entire village for the actions of a few," spoke Minato.

"An entire clan took to hunting him for sport? You really think there are so few?" asked Madara.

"I am aware, but, the kyuubi and Itachi, as well as you took care of them," spoke Minato.

"There were many others who would join in. The Uchiha would often start the mobs, but several villagers joined in. Many others did nothing to stop it. They could have at least found someone capable of settling down the attacking villagers, but chose silence. I would say those who care about him are few and far, not the other way around. If you were able to see what he had to go through as easily as I, then surely you are aware of this fact?" asked the kyuubi.

Minato went silent.

"A village leader wants to believe in those under him. As a clan leader, that's something I can understand. It's so easy to think they aren't capable of doing such great misfortune. Then, when you turn your back to them, they plunge a dagger into it. Your village isn't full of the peace loving individuals you believe it to contain. Just as my clan turned its back to me upon my warning it of events to come, your village has turned its back on you by betraying your last command," spoke Madara.

"And you were right... your clan was pushed back in power to the point of starting a rebellion. Even I was aware of what was going on, but I chose not to act. It would seem the Sandaime realized my mistake, and took action," replied Minato.

"So you understand, now, don't you?" asked Madara.

"Destroying the village is still wrong. There are so many innocents, still. It is wrong to punish everyone. I think the same of your actions in killing everyone in the clan, even women and children who had nothing to do with the planned coup d'etat," replied Minato.

"For someone who's so good at planning ahead, you fail to realize one thing. The survivors would have wanted revenge for what happened to them. Even now, I'm sure Itachi's otouto is planning our deaths. Revenge is human nature. If we left survivors, the problem would have repeated itself. Do you understand now?" asked Madara.

Minato went silent again.

"I want... to see her..." muttered Naruto.

"See who?" asked Minato.

Naruto pointed at the cage holding the kyuubi. Minato took note of the kyuubi's human form.

"I see. So, you've been taking care of him in place of us," spoke Minato.

"You don't think of me as a monster, do you?" asked the kyuubi.

"I knew you were under his control. I bear no grudges against you," replied Minato.

"I see. I forgive you for sealing me, then, but you should have given more consideration to what was going to happen to Naruto," spoke the kyuubi.

"I was hoping my wife, Uzumaki Kushina, would have been able to take care of him. I didn't think the strain of birth coupled with knowledge of my inevitable death would have caused her to pass on as she did," replied Minato.

"The human heart and will is a fragile thing. That's what allowed us to hold so much power in the years leading to the formation of the hidden villages," spoke Madara.

"Please... let me... see her..." muttered Naruto, before grunting in pain again.

"I can't simply put you in a position to control her again, and destroy my village. Even if they are flawed, there is always a chance for them to change," spoke Minato.

"You seem so sure of that," replied Madara, "And you likely thought the same of my clan, didn't you?"

"I would surmise the Sandaime ran out of time for negotiations. He would not have wanted the death of your clan. He preferred to avoid conflict, when possible. Though, things rarely turned out that way," spoke Minato.

"This seal has multiple layers, does it not? You could reinforce the part holding his eyes, while still allowing me to escape. That would work for you, right?" asked the kyuubi.

Madara appeared disturbed at the kyuubi's proposal. Minato appeared to be thinking it over.

"I can do that easily. That would work out well. It would serve as a safeguard against you falling under the control of Madara," replied Minato.

"A minor setback, Namikaze. I have other plans for restoring my power," spoke Madara.

"As I have plans for repelling it. I would rather remain a prisoner in here, rather than a prisoner under your control. Don't think I haven't done a little planning. I know what you want all of us for; I'm not ignorant of it. By the time you've gathered us all, and used us to restore your power, I'll be able to resist it," replied the kyuubi.

"If that is the case, then so be it. I don't need you for the final part of my plan. Any of the other eight will do," spoke Madara.

"Don't think I'll allow you to manipulate them. You want to start a revolution, you'll do it with us, not through us," replied the kyuubi.

"Fine, if that's how you want it. I'll accept this change of events as a minor setback," spoke Madara.

"I'm curious to know what you have in mind, but time is short. I can only maintain my consciousness for a little longer. I'll reinforce the final part of the seal, preventing you from regaining your power, but the kyuubi will be allowed to roam free," spoke Minato.

"Arigatou..." muttered Naruto.

"This isn't over between us, Namikaze. Your village will burn to the ground. You're only delaying the inevitable," spoke Madara.

Minato gave a grin before disappearing. The light around the seal on the kyuubi's cage disappeared. Behind the cage, a strong light could be seen.

"So, that's where it is, huh?" spoke Madara.

With his resistance gone, Madara was able to progress through the final part of the kyuubi's seal. The paper representing the seal's core began to burn away. This prompted louder shouts of pain from Naruto. The kyuubi could only watch in tears, hoping Naruto would be okay.

"It's been five days in the outside world. The Yondaime's little interruption placed a heavy delay on my removal of the seal. If you wish to blame someone for his pain, then blame him," spoke Madara.

The kyuubi grumbled to herself, thinking of things she would do to Madara when she got free. The paper of the seal continued to burn away. The bars of the cage appeared to corrode as the paper burned, looking as though it had undergone years of weathering rapidly.

"And now, to finish," spoke Madara. The flames flared up, erasing the seal. The kyuubi took note of this, and tore the cage down, freeing herself. She was about to pick up Naruto when she noticed Madara had not put an end to his jutsu.

"And now, for my eyes," spoke Madara, as the flames rushed past the cage, hitting a solid metal door with another paper seal at its core. The door began to glow red from the heat of the flames. Naruto let out an ear piercing scream as Madara attempted to break down the final part of the seal.

"What are you doing!?" shouted the kyuubi, "He won't allow you to break down that seal!"

"Like I'll quit now when I'm so close!" shouted Madara, as he walked past the kyuubi, he started assaulting the door, hoping to break through it. Just as before, the seal's core glowed a bright white, pushing back Madara's flames.

"I don't think so," spoke Madara, as the flames intensified. The glowing white light did as well. Naruto screamed once again before passing out.

"There! I have it!" shouted Madara.

"No, you don't," spoke Minato, as he took an ethereal form in front of Madara. The light of the seal intensified, knocking Madara and the kyuubi out of Naruto's mind.

In the outside world, Madara collapsed. He began panting loudly from the strain put on himself from fighting Minato's final barrier.

"I can't believe it... I was so close... damn him!!" shouted Madara.

A bright red flash stormed out of Naruto. Madara watched in interest as the chakra began to take shape. Madara noted something of interest. There was a blue flash accompanying the red flash. The red chakra appeared to be molding the blue chakra. The blue chakra began to change to purple, then to red. The two forms separated, and began to take a solid form. One took the form of the kyuubi. The other took the form of a child. The child had a strong resemblance to Naruto. The difference was a blond fur covered tail flowing in the wind, coupled with fox ears. The kyuubi was the first to gain consciousness.

"Well, would you look at that, it worked," spoke Madara.

Madara was answered with a blow to the face that shattered his mask. He fell back onto the ground, looking stunned from the hit.

"You could have killed him!! I told you to stop, but you continued!! If it wasn't for me, he would have died!!" shouted the kyuubi.

"It would seem as though he did die... but you were able to give him a new body... interesting," spoke Madara, as he spit out a little blood. Madara pulled out a spare mask to replace his broken one.

"If it weren't for my stubborn refusal to die, that would have killed me," spoke Madara.

"How unfortunate," replied the kyuubi.

"That I could have died?" asked Madara.

"That you didn't," replied the kyuubi. The kyuubi walked over to Naruto, waiting to see if he would stir. Naruto's eyes were slow to open. Madara noticed Naruto's blue eyes were replaced with the red slits of the kyuubi.

"What... happened..." muttered Naruto.

"You're okay... thank goodness..." spoke the kyuubi.

"I'm okay... but I have a really bad headache..." muttered Naruto.

"You better not look over there, then," spoke Madara.

"Huh?" muttered Naruto, as he sat up. He saw his dead body lying at the center of the seal.

"What's going on!?" shouted Naruto.

"Madara killed your body, so I had to give you a new one," replied the kyuubi.

"He did?" asked Naruto.

"Hai. I've given you a body like mine, the body of a demon," spoke the kyuubi.

"I see... that explains this," spoke Naruto, as he swung his tail into his hand.

"Hmm... I didn't want to say anything, but you two do realize you're naked, right? I don't mind seeing you, but it feels wrong to see the boy," spoke Madara.

"I suppose I didn't give it much thought..." muttered the kyuubi, as a thin red form appeared around her. The form condensed into a long, white dress.

"Cool," spoke Naruto.

"It's like doing a henge, except the shell is thinner. Think of it like that, and you'll be able to make yourself some clothes out of your chakra. Bear in mind to accommodate your tail," explained the kyuubi.

"Okay... like this?" asked Naruto, as he formed a set of clothes for himself. Naruto's outfit consisted of a steel gray kimono.

"Ah, much better," spoke Madara, as he approached Naruto's original body.

"I know what you're thinking. It's sealed in his new body, so don't waste your time," spoke the kyuubi.

"Is that so? Fine. It would seem as though I've allowed the boy to gain a power beyond anything he would have been able to realize before. You should thank me," spoke Madara.

"I won't kill you, for the time being. That's my thanks," replied the kyuubi.

"Like you could. I'll get my power in another way. There's many paths that lead to the same destination. I have other matters to attend, ja ne," spoke Madara, as he disappeared.

"Arigatou," spoke Naruto.

"You shouldn't thank him; he almost killed you," spoke the kyuubi.

"I know, but I can finally be with you," spoke Naruto, as he went to hug the kyuubi.

"I... guess so..." spoke the kyuubi.

"I don't know what to do about that, though," spoke Naruto, while pointing at his old body.

"A proper burial, I suppose. That seems most fitting, right?" asked the kyuubi.

"It seems so strange to be talking about burying myself... I guess that would be the best thing to do," replied Naruto.

The kyuubi nodded, and picked up Naruto's old body. She lashed out at the ground with one her tails, making a suitable hole to place Naruto's body. She gently covered it with the dirt surrounding it.

"We should mark it in some way," spoke Naruto.

"What for?" asked the kyuubi.

"To symbolize... the burial of the past," spoke Naruto.

"So, you've considered what your father was talking about?" asked the kyuubi.

"The village will still pay. That hasn't changed. However, I'm going to take a different path. I'll think of ways to 'purify' the village without killing everyone," replied Naruto.

"I see. Very well, mark your grave then, so we can get going. I'd like to eat; it's been years since I've been able to do so," spoke the kyuubi.

"Hai," replied Naruto, as found a large rock to place on his grave. He pulled out a kunai, and etched a message into the rock, "Here lies my past."

"Let's go," spoke Naruto.

The kyuubi nodded, and the pair walked off.

In Tsuchi no Kuni, Madara had a grin on his beneath his mask.

"You're welcome, boy," spoke Madara, giving a reply to Naruto's thanks.

"First to find the terrorist I've heard of, then I'll tend to the other jinchuuriki. I'm sure he'll be interested in the gift I allowed Naruto-kun," spoke Madara, as he gazed into the sky from the top of the cliff he chose to place himself.

_A/N: The name of Kakuzu's partner, Shikei, can be spelled as __死刑__, where __死 __means death and __刑 __means penalty. Her name is a reference to her inevitable death at Kakuzu's hands through his harsh treatment of his partners before being paired with Hidan. The name of the port city Higashikou can be spelled as __東港__, where __東 __means east and __港 __means harbor. The name of the island where Kisame was found, Samenoura, can be spelled as __鮫浦__, where __鮫 __means shark and __浦 __means bay. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review._


	4. Betrayal

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto; if I did, Danzo would be six feet under_

_A/N: Sorry for taking so long to release. Life has been keeping me occupied as of late, and my motivation had been lacking._

**Chapter 4: Betrayal**

"Ah!!" shouted a voice down a corridor. The sound of screaming was coupled with the sound of rain pouring down onto the building the owner of the voice was in. The rain seemed to pour down harder as the person's shouts increased.

"Hm, I may have left out the detail about how excruciating this process would be," spoke the voice of a man near the first person. Both were covered in shadows in the dark corridor. One man was wearing an orange mask with a stripe pattern resembling those of a tiger, while the other person was in the middle of a gathering of flames. The flames crawled up the body of the person in the middle of them.

"Ah!!" shouted the person again, much louder than he had been.

"Hm, this seal is much easier to break past than Minato's. Good thing; I'm not in the mood to have to deal with something like that again," spoke Madara.

The screaming suddenly stopped as the body of the person in the middle of the seal collapsed. Two groups of chakra left the body of the person in the seal. One chakra form was a bright, near white blue, while the other was a deep ocean blue. The ocean blue chakra changed in color to a pastel version of the original color. The two forms solidified into a pair of demons.

"The ritual is complete. It would seem the process was a success," spoke Madara, while looking at the pair before him. Upon gaining consciousness, both created clothing from their chakra. One was boy, the other a woman. The boy looked down at his previous body, then took a hard look at Madara. The boy smiled for a second, before kicking Madara down the corridor. The elder Uchiha was quick to pick himself up, presenting himself before the boy who kicked him.

"If all of you are going to be so ungrateful, then you can learn how to perform this seal yourself," replied Madara.

"'I may have left out the detail about how excruciating this process would be,' hm? If you wanted my thanks, you should have given me the details in full," spoke the boy.

"Easy, kid, he didn't mean to upset you. He thought you might change your mind, or something, right?" asked the woman, showing anger in her last word.

"Yeah, yeah, that was it," spoke Madara.

A tail from the woman wrapped itself around the throat of Madara.

"This is pointless. I'm both thankful and angry. Perhaps when this headache goes away, I'll be able to give you a better thanks. I'm sure Pein-sama will be glad to have another powerful shinobi to aid him in this war. Hanzo's forces are just as strong as ever, while ours are starting to weaken," spoke the boy.

"Then Pein-san should be grateful, too. I've helped him out, even though I told him I would avoid doing anything to help him with his little problem. Don't say I never did anything for you," replied Madara.

"I get it, I get it. I'm curious to see how well this body compares to that one," spoke the boy.

"I'm sure you'll find it vastly superior to your other body. Now then, could you ask the lovely lady to let me go?" asked Madara.

"Just shift through it," replied the woman.

"I would rather you retract it," spoke Madara.

"Fine," replied the woman.

"So, you are spent, huh. I could see your chakra was a little weak after performing that ritual. You should be more careful. Performing two of these rituals only a couple days apart could have caused you serious harm," spoke the boy.

"Ah, so you do have some concern for my well being, eh?" asked Madara.

"Maybe a little. You are our leader, after all. War has taught me to support all your allies, even if you may not be particularly fond of them," explained the boy.

"That's not quite the truth, is it?" asked Madara.

"I don't want Pein-sama to waste _that_ jutsu on you just yet. He said it would put much more strain on him than a full powered Shinra Tensei, even if it's only used on one person. It would be best if he wasn't forced into using it more times than necessary," replied the boy.

"That sounds more like the truth. Your loyalty to him is quite impressive, to say the least. I was hoping you would show some more of that towards me," replied Madara.

"My loyalties to you are demonstrated through my actions as an associate of Akatsuki. You know full well, though, that I would never act as a member of Akatsuki against Pein-sama," spoke the boy.

"I know, I know. I have established Pein-san as the leader for the time being. It's his organization for now, as long as he sticks to my outline, he's free to do whatever he wants," replied Madara.

"Good to know," replied the boy.

As the pair were conversing, they took note of a shadow walking towards them.

"Is the ritual over?" asked the shadow. The voice sounded distorted, like it was coming through a radio.

"It has ended," replied Madara.

"The results are rather interesting. I feel much stronger than I did before," spoke the boy.

"And you have me to act under you directly, Pein-sama," spoke the woman.

"I'm anxious to test out my abilities in this body on the battlefield," spoke the boy.

"The time for that will come later. Madara-san advised me that you would need to rest at the completion of the ritual," replied Pein.

"I'll take the field in his place, then," spoke the woman.

"No, you need to rest, as well as adjust to being in the outside world again," replied Pein.

"As you wish, Pein-sama," spoke both the boy and woman in unison.

"Madara-san, what of your visit to Iwagakure?" asked Pein.

"Nothing much came out of it. Turns out the kid has disappeared. No one knows of where he is. All I know is that he's hiring himself out as a terrorist for hire, under some alias. I can keep an eye out for such a person matching his description. For the time being, I have no idea of his whereabouts," explained Madara.

"Should we use Zetsu to find him?" asked Pein.

"No, that is not necessary. We need him to keep looking into information about the other jinchuuriki for the time being. If I have need for his services, I'll call upon him personally," replied Madara.

"Very well. You two, go rest. Madara-san, I'll await your next contact," spoke Pein, as his shadow disappeared.

"That takes care of that, then. Let us go find something to eat. It's been a couple days since I last ate," spoke the boy.

"I haven't been free to eat since I was placed in you. I forgot what it felt like to be hungry. Let's go," spoke the woman.

"Then we shall take our leave of you, Madara-sama," spoke the boy.

"Ah, yes, rest well, and win this war of yours. The you two, along with Pein-san and Konan-san, will be better able to help me with my goals once your little problem has been taken care of," replied Madara.

The pair nodded before walking off.

"That takes care of that, for the time being. Now, what to do next, hm? It's been some time since I've looked for candidates in Kumo. I'll go there for now," spoke Madara to himself, before disappearing.

On the border of Tsuchi no Kuni, a pair of shinobi wearing a cloak with red clouds were walking through a canyon. Both had Taki hitai-ate with a scratch through them.

"Hey, Kakuzu, how close are we to the target?" asked a kunoichi.

"Not too much farther from here, Shikei," replied Kakuzu.

"Good, I want to get this guy as soon as possible, before the leader sends the mask kid out to give us new orders," spoke Shikei.

"The leader knows how important these bounties are to the organization. He said it himself; we have a pressing need for money right now," replied Kakuzu.

"Yeah, I know, I know, you've said it a thousand times over," spoke Shikei.

"Tobi thinks he says it too much," spoke a person at the end of the canyon.

"Oh, speak of the devil," spoke Shikei.

"What do you want?" asked Kakuzu.

"Leader-sama says Kakuzu-senpai and Shikei-senpai need to go to Kaminari no Kuni," replied Tobi.

"I have an important bounty to seek out here," replied Kakuzu.

"Yeah, we need to take care of that first. Is our presence in Kaminari no Kuni that important?" asked Shikei.

"Money is important, Kakuzu-senpai should get his target first," replied Tobi.

"Then we are in agreement over something, now go, before you manage to piss me off," spoke Kakuzu.

"Ah, no get pissed off at Tobi. Tobi will go now," spoke the masked-nin, before running off.

"He scares too easily for his own good. Let's go," spoke Shikei.

Kakuzu grunted in response, as the pair continued on their way to their goal. Just beyond the end of the canyon lay a village at the end of the path the pair were walking.

"So, that's the village, eh?" asked Shikei.

"That's the one. Our bounty here is worth twenty million ryou," replied Kakuzu.

"Ah, a nice amount. What do we know about this person?" asked Shikei.

"He's a kenjutsu specialist. He was hired out as an assassin, and became wanted after killing several guards of the daimyou of Tsuchi no Kuni," replied Kakuzu.

"Hm? This guy sounds like someone I know… it couldn't be _him_, though. Let's continue," spoke Shikei.

Kakuzu held a small grin behind his mask as the pair made their way into the village. The pair drew little attention to the entry of the pair into the village. The uniform of black cloaks with red clouds had yet to become a symbol of fear throughout the shinobi world. The hats the pair wore obscured their faces from view, making it difficult for anyone to get a positive ID on the pair. They continued walking through the village, Kakuzu leading the pair.

"Do you have an idea of where this person is?" asked Shikei.

"I have a way to find out," replied Kakuzu.

The former Taki-nin walked into at the edge of the village. There were few people there at this time of day. The bar keep took a look at the pair as they entered.

"It's a bit early for me to really serve liquor. You'll have to wait until later on in the afternoon," spoke the bar keep.

"It is never too early for liquor, only too early for drunks," replied Kakuzu.

"Ah, true. Drunks do cost me a lot of money," spoke the bar keep.

"Money is valuable, as is time," replied Kakuzu.

"Time is money," spoke the bar keep, before hitting a small switch under the counter. The switch opened a door in the back.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Kakuzu-san," spoke the bar keep.

"Indeed," replied Kakuzu, as he walked into the back room. Shikei attempted to follow, only to be cut off by the bar keep.

"Only those who have earned the master's trust are allowed," spoke the bar keep.

"Oh, is that so? What is a lady in waiting to do?" asked Shikei, as she removed her hat, allowing her long, black hair to flow behind her freely.

"A woman? I never thought Kakuzu would find a woman who could tolerate him," replied the bar keep.

"It's not like that. We work together because we have to. He's not really my type. Now you, on the other hand, may be worth a little something," replied Shikei, in a seductive voice.

"Um… uh…" stuttered the bar keep.

"This master of yours sounds interesting. You wouldn't mind allowing me to see him, would you?" asked Shikei.

"I-I'm not s-supposed to…" stuttered the bar keep.

"I'll make it worth your while," replied Shikei, while getting closer to the bar keep.

"I-I can m-make an e-exception. R-right this w-way," spoke the bar keep.

"Arigatou," replied Shikei, as she headed to the back with Kakuzu.

Shikei found Kakuzu sitting down to speak with an older man. The man was bald, and had a black patch over his left eye. There were several scars visible across the man's body.

"Oh, Kakuzu-san, I didn't think you had a woman," spoke the bald man.

"She's my partner in Akatsuki, nothing more," replied Kakuzu.

"Hai, I'm not into men like him," spoke Shikei.

"I see. How did you get past my guard?" asked the bald man.

"With the charm only a woman possesses," replied Shikei.

"Gah, that guy is too soft for his job. If you were an assassin, I would have a problem to deal with," spoke the man.

"I am an assassin, though, if it makes you feel better, you are not one of my targets," replied Shikei.

"I see. Well then, if you don't mind, you may as well sit with us, since you are going to be with Kakuzu-san in hunting this man down. If I may ask, what is your name?" asked the man.

"Shikei."

"Ah, Shikei-san, I am Kari Hitoshi," replied the bald man.

"Hitoshi-san, where did you get your information from?" asked Kakuzu.

"One of my top sources. He is in that village. He's not on the move for the time being, but that's subject to change quickly. You should be able to catch him if you move quickly," replied Hitoshi.

"Good, good. I will be back with his head," replied Kakuzu.

"Ah, is that so? Alright, I'll prepare your payment now, then," spoke Hitoshi.

"Ah, so you are one of Kakuzu-san's bankers," spoke Shikei.

"Correct. I used to be a bounty hunter. With the wealth I've collected, I run this outpost, assisting other bounty hunters in the area. Since I often make a profit when dealing with the governments who claimed your prey missing-nin, I'm able to give the posted award. It's a good system for those who are also marked," replied Hitoshi.

"This man here is one of the few people I trust in this world," spoke Kakuzu, as he rose from his seat, motioning to leave.

"But that trust only goes so far; people our age, who grew up in the era we did, know not to ever give our full trust to anyone," replied Hitoshi.

"I see," spoke Shikei, as she got up to follow Kakuzu.

"A word of caution, Shikei-san, never forget that your partner is a bounty hunter before anything else. There is no one I know who is capable of matching his talents in that area," spoke Hitoshi.

"I'll keep that in mind, Hitoshi-san," replied Shikei, as she followed Kakuzu out the door.

"_Hm, I doubt I'll ever see her again. What a shame, such a waste of a beauty,"_ thought Hitoshi, as he watched Shikei and Kakuzu leave.

"So, our target is in the next village, eh? How convenient," spoke Shikei.

"To a point. Let's go," replied Kakuzu.

"Ah, in hunter mode already? Alright then," spoke Shikei, as she followed closely by Kakuzu, remaining silent as the pair made their way out of the bar.

"Hey, wait!" shouted the bar keep, "You owe me!"

"Oh, I did promise you something, didn't I?" asked Shikei, as she walked up to the bar keep. She smiled before passionately kissing the bar keep.

"Just an appetizer for now, love, I'll give you the rest later," spoke Shikei.

The bar keep smiled in response as Shikei turned around. Shikei had a large grin on her face as she was walking. Within a few moments, a loud thud could be heard as the bar keep hit the floor. Shikei spit out a small capsule. It appeared to have been cracked open.

"Disgusting fellow. I hope he enjoys eternal slumber," spoke Shikei, as she tossed the capsule into a nearby trash can

"Hitoshi would have killed him later, right?" asked Shikei.

"Correct; he's doesn't appreciate his guards being loose with their job," replied Kakuzu.

Shikei pulled out another capsule and put it in her mouth to replace the one she had their before.

"Good thing I'm immune to this poison, or I'd be joining him," muttered Shikei, as the pair continued along. The pair replaced their hats as they made their exit of the village. The pair made their way across the rocky plains between the village they passed and their destination. Kakuzu led the pair in silence, waiting to get his bounty. As the pair entered the new village, they only served to capture a few passing glances, once again, their organization was not well established. Kakuzu led the pair to a worn down building in a damaged part of the village.

"My my, this village has seen some action," spoke Shikei.

"Parts of the village were left in ruin as a memorial to those who passed during the Konoha-Iwa conflict," replied Kakuzu.

"I see. I suppose everyone has their own way of honoring the dead. I take it our target is here?" asked Shikei.

Kakuzu nodded as the pair continued into the building.

"Who goes there?" asked an individual from the shadows. The person was answered with several tentacles going through his body.

"Intruders!" shouted another man.

"Oh my, there are quite a few in here, aren't there. I suppose I should do something. Doton: Chinbotsu Senpaku no Jutsu! _(Earth Release: Sinking Ship Technique)_" shouted Shikei, after making hand seals, and placing her hands on the ground. The scaffolding holding up hiding shinobi began to sink into the ground, causing the shinobi there to lose their footing. Kakuzu took note of the momentary opening, and prepared a jutsu of his own.

"Katon: Zukkoku! _(Fire Release: Cranium Carver)_" shouted Kakuzu. Searing flames emerged from Kakuzu, incinerating the hapless shinobi trapped above the pair. The intensity of the flames destroyed the rest of the scaffolding, forcing Shikei to dodge flaming debris. As the last of the debris fell, and the smoke cleared, the pair of Akatsuki observed their surroundings carefully.

"It would seem our target is well guarded," spoke Shikei.

"Are you so sure?" asked Kakuzu.

"So, you thought it, too. Allow me to rephrase, there exists the illusion he is being protected. Really, those were other bounty hunters, making sure we wouldn't interfere," replied Shikei.

"I'm fortunate to have a partner that can think; my last partner was not so knowledgeable," replied Kakuzu.

"Suiton: Suikawakamasu! _(Water Release: Water Pike)_" shouted Shikei.

"Doton: Domu no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Earth Spear Technique)" shouted Kakuzu.

Water pulled off of the ground, and converged in front of Shikei's fist, forming a pike she thrust into a hunter behind Kakuzu. Kakuzu's first hardened, and plunged through a hunter behind Shikei.

"Heh, I didn't know you cared," spoke Shikei.

"Don't misunderstand; the moment I consider you to be of no further use, I will kill you," replied Kakuzu.

"And here I was thinking I might have finally gotten you to respect me," spoke Shikei. The pair continued through the building, hunting for their target. The building appeared to be silent, with no sign of shinobi in hiding.

"Is your intel inaccurate?" asked Shikei.

"Hitoshi is never wrong. He is here," replied Kakuzu.

At that moment, the pair took note of someone moving in the darkness.

"Doton: Haji no Tsuchi no Jutsu! _(Earth Release: Earth's Grip Technique)_" shouted Shikei.

The person moving in the darkness was caught up in Shikei's jutsu, which made the earth rise halfway up the victim's legs, leaving the victim trapped.

"Too easy. I'll take care of this one," spoke Shikei.

"Remember, if it's our target, he has to be recognizable," replied Kakuzu.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," replied Shikei, as she pulled out a kunai, and casually approached her target.

"You know, it's been a real pain trying to find you. Even worse, seems there were a few that beat us here," spoke Shikei.

"Oh? I did take note of them. I was about to wipe them out myself. Thank you for taking care of them for me," replied the trapped man.

"You shouldn't thank me; we're here to kill you, too," spoke Shikei.

"Is that so? Well, I can take the two of you easier than I could have taken all of them," replied the man.

"Cocky, aren't we? If I had to choose between fighting a bunch of weaklings, or two high level shinobi, I would rather deal with numbers. It's far easier, you know. Quality always wins over quantity," spoke Shikei.

"Seems the only thing you are good at is talking people to death," replied the man.

"Oh, is that so? Perhaps I should show you how actions speak louder than words," spoke Shikei, as she drew closer to her target. She appeared ready to slit her target's throat. Right before she did, she put away her weapon, grabbed the man, and began to make out with him.

"_That trick again, huh," _thought Kakuzu, anticipating Shikei to use her Dokuyaku no Kuchiduke _(Poison Kiss)_. He was surprised at what took place next.

"It's been five years, but we finally found each other again, Tasome-kun," spoke Shikei.

"Aye, Shikei-chan. Who is your friend there?" asked Tasome.

"Oh, him? He's Kakuzu, my partner in the organization I joined," replied Shikei.

"What is going on?" asked Kakuzu.

"Oh, Tasome here is my fiancé. We lost track of each other after we became missing-nin. We were forced to go separate paths. I was keeping track of rumors of his exploits, so that's why I've always agreed with your bounty hunts, even if they sometimes come into conflict with Leader-sama's orders. I'll still do that, as you are right about our need for money, but now, it'll be the three of us," replied Shikei.

"A bounty like his does not come up often, I can't just leave it like this," spoke Kakuzu.

"Hey, he's my fiancé, okay? You can't kill him," replied Shikei.

"You're refusing me my bounty?" asked Kakuzu, who was gradually becoming more irritated.

"He's not a bounty, he's my fiancé! I'm not going to kill him for money!!" shouted Shikei.

"I see, that is your choice, then," spoke Kakuzu, as he turned to walk away.

"There, that takes care of that. He can be like that at times, but don't mind him. You'll get used to it," spoke Shikei, as she released the jutsu holding Tasome in place.

"It will take some time, I suppose… look out!!" shouted Tasome.

"Huh… ah!!" screamed Shikei. The kunoichi was momentarily stunned by something. She looked down to see Kakuzu's blood soaked hand, which had pierced through her chest.

"You yourself are worth twenty-five million ryou. Now I'll have a forty-five million ryou bounty," spoke Kakuzu.

"B-but… why…" muttered Shikei, as she was coughing up blood.

"I told you before, more than once. No one gets in the way of my collecting a bounty," spoke Kakuzu, "And it appears the time on my doton heart is nearing its end. As a doton no jutsu user, I'll be able to put yours to good use."

"You bastard!!" shouted Tasome, as he pulled out a katana. He severed the tentacles connecting Kakuzu's hand to his body, and took a swing at Kakuzu. The former Taki-nin ducked out of the way, and made a set of hand seals.

"Raiton: Gian! _(Lightning Release: False Darkness)_" shouted Kakuzu. Tasome, in his rage, was unable to avoid being hit by the jutsu. The jutsu hit Tasome with enough force to rip his body in half. His bloodied torso was thrown next to Shikei. In his last moments, Tasome attempted to reach out to Shikei. A thread from the hand of Kakuzu that was still embedded in Shikei cut Tasome's throat, ending his life. The threads retracted, and reached for Shikei's heart.

"I'll see you… in Hell…" muttered Shikei, as her life ended with the removal of her heart. The hand rejoined with Kakuzu's body. A beating lump fell from Kakuzu's body. The lump appeared to be old, somewhat rotting. The beating ceased within moments of being separated from Kakuzu's body.

"I was right, it was time for that heart to go," spoke Kakuzu, as he integrated Shikei's heart into his body. Kakuzu looked at the pair of lovers he had slain in cold blood.

"Be thankful you died together, that's the best kindness you could ever hope to receive from me," spoke Kakuzu, as he picked up Shikei's body, along with what was left of Tasome's body. He sealed the bodies in a pair of scrolls, after carefully removing Shikei's ring.

Kakuzu quickly made his return to Hitoshi's station. He took note of the new "bartender," and made his way to see Hitoshi.

"Ah, Kakuzu-san, nice to see you again," spoke Hitoshi.

"You haven't been giving out information to everyone else, have you?" asked Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu-san, you aren't my only client. There's going to be competition. That's the way of the world. After all, it's bad for business to only have one client. If something happened to you, then what would I do?" asked Hitoshi.

"If I kill them all off, it won't matter. However, as a business man, I understand your actions. I wouldn't expect to see the "clients" you sent out there again," replied Kakuzu.

"I didn't expect to see them again. I knew their fates as soon as I sent you in their direction. It's their problem what they do after I inform them of the location of a target. If they're too foolish to realize high profile targets attract high profile hunters, too bad," spoke Hitoshi.

"Indeed. I have two bodies with me to claim the bounties on," spoke Kakuzu.

"Two, eh? Well, let's see them," spoke Hitoshi, as he opened two storage slots. They were arranged in a manner resembling a large filing cabinet. The inside was kept cold to preserve the bodies.

"First is Tasome," spoke Kakuzu, as he unsealed what was left of his body.

"You did quite the number on him. He was quite the tough one, hard to believe this was his fate," replied Hitoshi.

"His mistake was fighting on emotions alone, rather than using his mind," explained Kakuzu.

"Oh, did something to anger him?" asked Hitoshi.

"I killed his fiancé in front of him," replied Kakuzu.

"I didn't know he had someone like that. Interesting. Is she the other one you brought?" asked Hitoshi.

"Correct," replied Kakuzu, as he unsealed Shikei's body.

"Tch, figured as much. What did she do?" asked Hitoshi.

"Attempted to prevent me from getting my target," spoke Kakuzu.

"Damn shame. She was rather beautiful. If it weren't for that bloody hole in her chest, she still would be. I warned her before you two left not to interfere. Too bad for her," replied Hitoshi.

"I'm sorry to trouble you for two bounties. I realize you only prepared enough for Tasome," spoke Kakuzu.

"Ah, not a problem. I had a feeling you were going to kill her soon and claim her bounty, so I prepared myself," replied Hitoshi, as he sealed the two "drawers." Hitoshi made his way over to another, and tapped on it a few times. Nine combination locks appeared. Hitoshi quickly set the numbers on all of them, prompting a tenth lock to appear. Hitoshi entered the final sequence, and opened a door containing several briefcases. Hitoshi pulled out two such cases, then resealed the door.

"Here you go," spoke Hitoshi, as he set the combinations on the two briefcases. Each contained a great sum of money, twenty million ryou for Tasome, twenty-five million ryou for Shikei. Kakuzu took an hour to count up the money in both cases. When he was satisfied, he closed both of them.

"Not off by a single ryou, perfect as always," spoke Kakuzu.

"Of course, I wouldn't rip off my best hunter. Good luck on finding a compatible partner, Kakuzu-san," replied Hitoshi.

"Indeed. Until next time, Hitoshi-san," spoke Kakuzu, as he departed from Hitoshi's station.

"What a shame, such a beauty. Well, since she was taken, I don't suppose it matters. At least she was in better shape than him," muttered Hitoshi to himself.

After Kakuzu found a secluded place outside of the village, he attempted to make contact with Pein.

In Amegakure, Pein's blood covered Deva Path was returning to his base.

"Pathetic weaklings now have the pain they deserve," spoke Pein, as he entered the base.

"They won't learn until Hanzo's final defeat," spoke Konan. Her outfit was also stained with blood.

"Hmm… someone is attempting communication. At least it's someone with good timing," spoke Pein, as he close his eyes to seek out the member contacting him. Pein's eyes opened again. A shadow bearing resemblance to Kakuzu appeared before Pein and Konan.

"Kakuzu, what news do you have for me?" asked Pein.

"I have collected forty-five million ryou," spoke Kakuzu.

"Have you? Very well, I'll send Zetsu to collect the money. Is that all?" asked Pein.

"Shikei is dead," replied Kakuzu.

"Is that so? Did she die by your hands?" asked Pein.

"She opposed me in my efforts to collect my bounty. I killed her and her lover for the bounties on both," replied Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu! How many times do I have to tell you! I cannot keep replacing your partners after you kill them! Strong, able shinobi are not in such a great supply that I can find one each time you kill one, do you understand!!" shouted Pein.

"I understand," replied Kakuzu.

"Good. Remember Kakuzu, the moment I deem you in the way of our goals is the moment I'll kill you myself. Your willingness to provide us with funds is one thing, but do not forget that you are a part of Akatsuki. You are not a freelancing bounty hunter anymore, do you understand?" asked Pein.

"I understand," replied Kakuzu.

"Good. Do not make such a mistake again. Since you've killed Shikei, I'll need you to remain in Tsuchi no Kuni. There is information about a pair of jinchuuriki in Iwa. I need you to confirm this for me. Do not engage them. I only need information at this point. Avoid bringing any unnecessary attention to yourself. This is a stealth mission; conduct yourself as such. Wait for Zetsu to meet up with you to claim your bounties before you more on. I take it you also have Shikei's ring?" asked Pein.

"That is correct," replied Kakuzu.

"Then also turn it over to Zetsu. I will keep an eye out for other potential partners for you. Are there any other topics you wish to bring before me?" asked Pein.

"Not at this time," replied Kakuzu.

"Very well, you are dismissed," spoke Pein.

Kakuzu's shadow disappeared. Though it would seem as though Pein had been yelling, his expression did not change once throughout his conversation with Kakuzu. The only change in the area was the increase in the volume of the thunder from outside.

"You should be careful not to express your anger so explicitly," spoke Konan.

"I find great frustration in Kakuzu's actions. If he was not as talented in the shinobi arts as he was, I would have gotten rid of him long before now," spoke Pein.

"Do not let his actions get to you. Come, we need to wash up," replied Konan.

"You are right as always. Let's go, then," spoke Pein, as he and Konan continued on their way into the base.

Over the next couple of hours, Pein thought over who to send to Kaminari no Kuni in place of Kakuzu and Shikei. He recalled that Madara told him he had stumbled onto a rumor concerning a pair of jinchuuriki in Kumo, though he didn't have any information beyond that.

"Perhaps I should send two teams. Itachi and Kisame, along with that Naruto kid aren't too far. Sasori and Orochimaru are also in close proximity to the area. I'll send them," spoke Pein.

"If you think that is the best choice," replied Konan.

In the abandoned village, Itachi, and Naruto were having one of their spars. Unlike all of their previous fights, Naruto was able to keep up with Itachi's speed, though his lack of experience still prevented him from landing a solid hit on his instructor. Kisame was engaging the kyuubi in a spar. The bijuu used her chakra to form a sword, allowing the pair to participate in a kenjutsu fight. The two pairs suddenly stopped what they were doing, and took a look at one another.

"That was him," spoke Itachi.

"So, he finally has something for us, does he? I suppose we should listen," replied Kisame.

"Seems he wants us in on it, too," spoke Naruto.

"I wonder to what end, though," replied the kyuubi.

All four closed their eyes and focused their thoughts. Each saw the projections of the others, as well as a projection of two others, along with a projection of Pein.

"That's everyone. I have a mission for all six of you," spoke Pein.

"What kind of mission?" asked Orochimaru.

"Information. I need to know if there are two jinchuuriki in Kumogakure. If they are there, I need to know more about them," replied Pein.

"Sounds easy enough. Why send all of us?" asked Kisame.

"One target, one team. I don't assume that the two jinchuuriki would be together, that's why am sending both of your teams. Under no circumstances are you to engage the jinchuuriki if you find them, understood?" asked Pein.

"Understood," replied six voices.

"I trust you will not object to this, Kyubi-san?" asked Pein.

"It's just information gathering. I have not objections; I don't really care about the others, anyway. If gathering them all together is the only way for me to achieve my goals, then so be it," replied the kyuubi.

"Good. You have your orders, dismissed," spoke Pein.

The shadows disappeared from the cave they appeared in. Itachi, Kisame, Naruto, and the kyuubi opened their eyes to the field they were occupying.

"It would seem that we'll have to pack up," spoke Kisame.

"Indeed," spoke Itachi.

The group of four quickly packed up their training supplies and camp, and made speed towards Kaminari no Kuni. Along the way, the team met up with Orochimaru and Sasori.

"So, it would seem we are destined to work together again," spoke Orochimaru.

"It would appear so," replied Itachi.

"Are you two going to reminisce about the good times you had in your village?" asked Kisame.

"If we had good times, we wouldn't be here right now, right?" asked Orochimaru.

"You have a good point," spoke Kisame.

"You appeared to have a good time causing pain to the Sandaime," spoke Itachi.

"Oh? I suppose the look on his face as I made my escape was rather priceless. Don't tell me you're holding a grudge against me for something like that," replied Orochimaru.

"No, not at all. I did far worse," spoke Itachi. The lack of emotion in his voice at such a statement brought silence to the group for the moment, leaving nothing but the sound of light footsteps as the group continued their advance.

"Ho ho, Itachi, you are quite the bold one," spoke Orochimaru.

Itachi replied in silence.

"The mood sure died here rather quickly," spoke Kisame.

"I can't speak for the two of you, but my partner could learn to better appreciate the sounds of the world in silence. He has a tendency to speak one word too many," spoke Sasori.

"Is that so? You tend to not say enough. You need to learn to take more pleasure in the simpler things," replied Orochimaru.

"What you call 'taking pleasure,' I call a waste of time," spoke Sasori.

"Ah, that tired philosophy of yours. It is a great irony that one who has infinite time would be so impatient," replied Orochimaru.

"Infinite time?" asked Kisame.

"Sasori here turned his body into a puppet. As a result, he has a degree of immortality," explained Orochimaru.

"You have a big mouth," spoke Sasori.

"It's not as though it isn't obvious. A person of your age with such youth? No one with common sense would avoid doubting something about you," replied Orochimaru.

"No offense, but you look your age in that body," spoke Kisame.

Sasori said nothing in response.

"That is an armor shell. You've never seen him outside of it. As far as I can tell, no one has. I only know what he has told me," replied Orochimaru.

"Is that so?" spoke Kisame.

"There is no reason for me to reveal myself. I trust no one, therefore, I reveal myself to no one," replied Sasori.

"Makes sense to me," spoke Kisame.

"I suppose one who stands out as much as you could appreciate something like this," spoke Sasori.

"I do stand out in a crowd, don't I? Well, I'm confident in my strength, so that's enough for me. I don't have to worry about anything else," replied Kisame.

"Don't be too sure of yourself. Everyone has a weakness of some kind. I do my best to cover mine, as well as avoid being overly confident in battle. If you can't accept your weaknesses, you'll never be able to develop your skills," spoke Sasori.

"Wise words," spoke the kyuubi.

"I don't believe we've met before," spoke Orochimaru, "Are you new to the group?"

The kyuubi could only grin in response.

"She's not a new member, she's been with us the entire time," replied Itachi.

"I would recognize someone like that, with those ears and nine tails… nine tails… impossible…" muttered Orochimaru.

"Is it that difficult to believe?" asked Naruto.

"Come to think of it, your appearance has changed quite a bit since three months ago," spoke Orochimaru.

"Ah, so it finally dawned on you, did it?" asked the kyuubi.

"I noticed from the start. Quite the interesting turn of events," replied Sasori.

"As one who was fighting you off during your attack, I would rather avoid thinking that very demon was right before my eyes again," spoke Orochimaru.

"That is understandable. As long as you avoid taking action against me, you have nothing to worry about," replied the kyuubi.

"Very well," spoke Orochimaru.

The group made their way into Kaminari no Kuni. As they crossed the border, the sun began to set. The group found a mountainside shrine, obscured by trees, to spend the night in. The shrine itself had been abandoned for quite some time, as evidenced by the overgrowth covering the structures of the shrine. The buildings themselves were dirty, but in livable condition.

"We'll rest here overnight. There shouldn't be any patrols out here," spoke Itachi.

"We've just crossed the border. The patrols won't be tight enough to reach places such as these until we get closer to the village. Since they aren't on the lookout for us, it should be fairly easy to make it in undetected," spoke Orochimaru.

"I agree. We'll set up here," spoke Sasori.

"I'll take a look around the area just to be sure," spoke Itachi.

"I'll join you in a few minutes. There is something I need to check," replied Orochimaru.

"Very well. I will begin my surveillance on the north side of the shrine," spoke Itachi, as he left the building the group entered. Orochimaru found a room planned to use for himself, and pulled out a scroll. He unsealed the contents, and looked them over. It appeared to be theories on the workings of a specific jutsu.

"It's time, time to be free of the restrictions of this body," spoke Orochimaru to himself, as he carefully looked over the scroll in front of him.

Itachi was nearing the eastern gate of the shrine complex when Orochimaru caught up to him. Orochimaru appeared to be in high spirits as he approached the Uchiha.

"It took you long enough," spoke Itachi.

"I had to be very careful with what I was looking over. It was the summary of years of research," spoke Orochimaru.

"Years of research?" asked Itachi.

"Years devoted to the development of a single jutsu," replied Orochimaru.

"Why did you find the need to look over it now?" asked Itachi.

"I plan on using it in the near future. It's a very important jutsu," replied Orochimaru.

"Hmm… if memory serves you were researching kinjutsu. A very specific one, something to do with immortality," spoke Itachi.

"Ah, very good, very good. You are correct. It will allow me to take over the body of a person of my choosing. It will give me access to all of their jutsu, as well as their memories. The main benefit is the attainment of their vitality. As long as I rigorously perform the jutsu, I'll never die," explained Orochimaru.

"You seem rather confident in this jutsu of yours," spoke Itachi.

"I have another member to thank for my advancement. The scope of the original version of this jutsu was full immortality. I could never perfect it. The test subjects, after partially changing into a state of biological immortality, would suddenly revert. Their cell structure would break down, and they all suffered violent deaths. Then I met Kakuzu, who found immortality in his own way," explained Orochimaru.

"In what way?" asked Itachi.

"He absorbs the organs of powerful shinobi who cross his path. He uses them to replace the worn out organs of his own body, allowing him to continue living. He refuses to claim himself as an immortal, though, in reality, he truly is. That's when I decided to take a different approach to my jutsu. If I cannot make a single subject immortal, then perhaps I need only replace those parts of the body that make us mortal. I took that one step further, with the replacement of the entire body," replied Orochimaru.

"A wise approach. Such a method seems feasible, but tell me, why are you, the genius of the Sannin, so interested in immortality? Is it to prove it can be done?" asked Itachi.

"I wish to master all of the jutsu of the world. In order to achieve that goal, one would need several lifetimes. That's is the drive behind my quest for immortality. All other matters are secondary," spoke Orochimaru.

"I see. If you take an entire body, you would also gain several jutsu at the same time, so it would seem that you have taken care of two elements required for your goal," replied Itachi.

"Indeed. I would be unable to fully achieve my goals if I did not have a way of gaining access to those of kekkei genkai. In my quest for immortality, I have found the answer to that issue as well," spoke Orochimaru, as he began making a series of hand seals. The grin on Orochimaru's face widened, knowing he would easily catch the Uchiha while his back was turned. As Orochimaru completed the final hand seal, Itachi quickly turned around, his Sharingan active. He took a deep stare into the eyes of the being behind him.

"Too late!!" shouted Orochimaru, "Fushi Tensei! _(Living Corpse Reincarnation)_"

The world before Itachi melted away, landing the Uchiha in a dark void. The ground in this void was a soft, flesh like material.

"We are now within the confines of my mind, Uchiha Itachi. Your body will now be mine!" shouted Orochimaru.

Itachi remained emotionless as the fleshy ground began to crawl up his body. As it reached Itachi's throat, it ceased its advance.

"Interesting jutsu," spoke Itachi in a calm tone. Orochimaru appeared before Itachi. In contrast to Itachi's appearance, Orochimaru appeared to be in a state of panic.

"What's going on!? Why aren't you being absorbed!?" shouted Orochimaru.

The world of Orochimaru's jutsu disappeared. In its place appeared the world of the red sky.

"The moment you set your eyes on these eyes that you seek was the moment you lost any chance of obtaining them," replied Itachi. Several stakes appeared out of the sky, binding Orochimaru's form.

"You are no longer welcome in our organization," spoke Itachi, as he cut off Orochimaru's left hand, the one bearing his 空 ring. Orochimaru knew the pain he felt as his hand was severed was real, though Itachi was careful to mask it as part of his illusion. Orochimaru latched onto that, and was able to break through Itachi's genjutsu. Orochimaru gave Itachi a look full of killing intent, though Itachi wasn't even fazed by it. Orochimaru knew when to cut his losses, quickly recovered his hand, and disappeared.

"We'll meet again, Itachi!!" shouted Orochimaru, before he disappeared. Itachi searched for any sign of Orochimaru, but found the jutsu Orochimaru used to conceal himself concealed his chakra, as well, making it impossible for Itachi to find him.

"Damn," muttered Itachi. The Uchiha knew he had to report this sudden betrayal to the others immediately, and rushed back to the shrine complex.

"Itachi-san, did you find something?" asked Kisame.

"Where is Orochimaru?" asked Sasori.

"Orochimaru attempted to strike at me with his Fushi Tensei," spoke Itachi.

"That fool!!" shouted Sasori, "I warned him to take care in choosing his target. I did not think a genius of his level would do something so reckless."

"We must report this to Leader-sama at once," spoke Itachi.

"We need to find Orochimaru first. We cannot allow him to escape," replied Sasori.

"I've already tried looking for him. He used a jutsu that has allowed him to hide his chakra signature. I am unable to locate him," spoke Itachi.

"Very well, we will inform the leader," spoke Sasori.

"That snake tried to attack Itachi? He'll pay," spoke Naruto.

"I agree. I had a bad feeling about him since we first met him on our mission to recruit Kisame," replied the kyuubi.

"Everyone, close your eyes, and await a response from the leader," spoke Itachi.

Within a few moments, they appeared in a cave. There was a single lantern at its center.

"Itachi, you said you have something urgent to report to me? I doubt you've reached Kumo so quickly," spoke Pein.

"No, that is not it. I was just attacked by Orochimaru," replied Itachi.

"You were?" asked Pein.

"He attempted to possess my body in an attempt to gain the Sharingan and immortality," replied Itachi.

"Where is Orochimaru now?" asked Pein.

"After his jutsu failed, I cut his hand off in an attempt to recover our ring before destroying Orochimaru's form; however, he was able to break through the genjutsu I placed on him, and used a jutsu to escape. I was unable to track him with my Sharingan. He was able to take his severed hand with him," explained Itachi.

Pein's form remained silent for a moment. The silence cast dread upon the other members in the room.

"This requires a meeting of all of us, everyone, assemble," spoke Pein.

The forms of Konan, Kakuzu, Tobi, Zetsu, along with the form of a another pair who was not recognized by any of the others.

"Oh wow, everyone is here!" shouted Tobi.

"Silence, Tobi. I didn't bring you hear for idle talk. Orochimaru has betrayed Akatsuki," replied Pein.

"Did he now? How unfortunate," spoke Kakuzu.

"It would seem you were right to doubt him," spoke Zetsu.

"Even I had grown used to him after being his partner over the past several years. He showed no signs of planning something so foolish," replied Sasori.

"Perhaps he did, but you overlooked it, not wanting to believe he was capable of such an act," spoke Kisame.

"No, I kept a careful eye on him. I've learned to trust no one, especially not him. I knew he was planning to use his special jutsu, and cautioned him to be wary with picking a target," explained Sasori.

"He made his choice, and now he will pay for it. No one betrays Akatsuki. His actions are by far a greater disgrace than your repeated murders of your partners," spoke Pein, while referring to Kakuzu.

"I see, so he killed one of his partners again. That explains why you changed his assignment," spoke Sasori.

"I was able to get us a large sum of money for the death of her and her lover," replied Kakuzu.

"Oh, offed them both, did you? I could learn to get along with you," spoke Kisame.

"Quiet!" spoke Pein, bringing the group to attention again. "Orochimaru has eluded capture. He knows our secrets, our goals, and has information on most of our members. His continued existence is a threat to the organization. In addition, he has taken his ring with him, making it impossible to replace him."

"Why does it matter that he has the ring?" asked Naruto.

"The rings are an important part of our ultimate goal. They are the key of our means, and there are only ten of them. They cannot be replaced. As such, at any time, there can only be ten full members of Akatsuki. Everyone else gathered here, yourself included, are merely associates of the organization," explained Pein.

"Understood," replied Naruto.

"Zetsu, while your current mission takes priority, you are also to look into the whereabouts of Orochimaru. It is likely he'll try to target Itachi again. He may attack the organization as a whole in order to drag him out. When he makes his move, I want to be sure to get to him first," spoke Pein.

"Understood," replied Zetsu.

"The same goes for the rest of you. You are to keep an ear open for any information on Orochimaru. It is only a matter of time before he takes action. Keep that in mind," spoke Pein.

"His is no threat, we will crush him," spoke Kisame.

"Do not be so sure. He was able to elude me within the timeframe of a few seconds. His genius allows him to think quickly on his feet. If he was able to elude me as he did, he should be taken as a point of concern for us," replied Itachi.

"Itachi is correct. I know your skills well, hence your becoming a part of the organization. The fact Orochimaru was able to come up with a plan to escape Itachi in such a short amount of time says something about his craftiness. Do not forget this, should you happen to stumble across him," spoke Pein.

"Understood," spoke most of those present. The two other associates and Konan remained silent.

"Your current orders stand. Dismissed," spoke Pein.

The forms in the cave disappeared as fast as they gathered.

In Amegakure, Pein stared up at the sky set before him. He could hear a battle taking place behind him. That sound was soon drowned out by the sound of thunder, followed by a heavy downpour. As Konan watched from behind, she could tell the sky embodied the rage Pein felt towards Orochimaru's action.

"That snake has no idea what he's done," came a voice from behind Konan.

"You should return to your rest. You will soon be needed," spoke Konan.

"I couldn't sleep. I can feel the roar of anger coming from the sky. Even if he refuses to express his feelings personally, he can never hide his feelings from the sky," replied the person behind Konan.

"Your concern is noted. This storm will pass, as have all the others. It is only a matter of time before Orochimaru receives divine punishment for his poor decision," spoke Konan.

"Indeed. I will return to my rest now. I merely wished to express my concern, and to see if this was some freak storm or not. Good day, Konan-sama," spoke the person before he left.

"He's a good one. At least I know I can trust the two of you when the time comes," spoke Pein, as he stood up from his place of meditation.

"He is. You were wise to bring him to our side," spoke Konan.

"He was on our side from the start. Hanzo ensured that for us. He merely needed a hand to pull him out of the darkness," replied Pein.

"That is one way to look at it," spoke Konan.

"Let us prepare for the next battle," spoke Pein, as he gestured Konan to follow him.

At the shrine, the group gathered there attempted one more search for Orochimaru before completing their journey to Kaminari no Kuni. The group was careful to avoid running into any of the guards along the border of Kumo.

"Naruto, Kyubi, you two do not possess a full skill set that would allow you to spy with us. We will keep you out in the open. Listen to anything that may give a clue to the location or identity of the targets. Ask gently, but do not take direct action. Report to us here at the end of the day," spoke Itachi.

"Understood," spoke Naruto.

Itachi, Sasori, and Kisame disappeared, leaving Naruto and the kyuubi alone.

"Let us pick a fitting disguise," spoke the kyuubi, as her form changed into that of a twenty year old blond in a blue kimono.

"I have an idea," spoke Naruto, as his form changed into a twenty year old man with shoulder length brown hair in a black kimono.

"Trying to pose as my boyfriend, or something?" asked the kyuubi.

"Maybe, or maybe as your guard. Either interpretation works for me, though, the former sounds best," replied Naruto.

"My, my, bold words for one so young. The latter will do. You're not quite fit to be my lover… yet," spoke Kyubi, while muttering the last part, so Naruto wouldn't be able to hear it.

The pair entered the village, with Naruto claiming to be the kyuubi's body guard. As civilians, the pair were allowed entry. The pair walked around the village, looking for places where those who may know of their targets would gather.

"The best place to go would be a bar… now, which bar would gather the most shinobi," spoke the kyuubi.

"It doesn't matter, really. I would think they would gather equally in all the taverns around here," replied Naruto.

"No, there is always that 'one place' where everyone gathers… and I think I've found it. It's this place here," spoke the kyuubi.

The pair entered, took a table, and listened in on the shinobi about them. As the kyuubi predicted, there were several shinobi gathered in the place. The kyuubi ordered the pair a couple of light beers. She knew she had to order Naruto a drink, despite his age, to maintain their cover. It would seem odd if she denied him a drink on the basis of "age." The pair caught wind of an interesting conversation between two shinobi behind them.

"You hear about that girl getting the rank of chunin?" asked a man with long hair.

"Yeah, I heard. She put up quite the fight in the last round. It would have been disrespectful to her efforts not to give it to her, even though she ended up losing," replied a man with shoulder length hair and a small beard.

"I thought for sure a jinchuuriki would be able to win the whole thing, hands down," spoke the first man.

"You would think that, but you have to remember what those fights are truly about," replied the bearded man.

"Ah, that's true. It's about thinking, not fighting. I remember the raikage pounding that into our skulls over and over again last year, right before the start of the finals," replied the first man.

The kyuubi and Naruto fell silent at talk of a jinchuuriki. They were surprised to hear about a jinchuuriki being openly discussed. They were even more shocked to hear about a jinchuuriki being praised.

"You know, it's so hard to remember the strategy element when you're in the ring, with all those spectators. All you want to do is show off all your best jutsu, strategy be damned," spoke the long haired man.

"That's why the spectators enjoyed your first match so much. Good thing you won; if it weren't for that second fight of yours, you would have never made chunin," replied the bearded man.

"Yeah, yeah. I remember you yelling at me for showing off too much, right before you had your match. You put up quite the show for someone who ultimately lost," spoke the first man.

"That may be so, but knowing when to fallback and cut your losses is also important. Drive to succeed is one thing, but knowing when to quit to avoid making a small loss a large one is also important. Yugito knew that well. She didn't show off once through the entire tournament. She even held back using her talents as a jinchuuriki until the final round. It was quite the battle of wits. That final trap of hers was almost perfect. Too bad her opponent figured it out at the last second," explained the bearded man.

"Yeah… " muttered the first man.

"So, you saw that match, too?" asked the kyuubi.

"Oh, took an interest in it?" asked the bearded man.

"It lacked the thrill of some of the other fights, but as a thinking match, it was unrivaled," replied the kyuubi.

"I agree. You seem to take quite an interest in the shinobi arts," spoke the bearded man, "What about you?"

"Hm? Me? I was trained as a shinobi in Taki. I opted to leave to act as a body guard for milady," replied Naruto.

"Oh, Taki, eh? It's been a while since I last met a shinobi from your village. Even longer since the last time I was there, not since the last time they held the chunin exams. I took my first exam there. I was knocked out in the second part. Total disappointment," spoke the bearded man.

"That's right, you took it a couple times, didn't you?" asked the long haired man.

"Yeah, I did. Kept losing teammates in the second exam. Ended up losing by default. Not to mention I was believed to be bad luck because of that," replied the bearded man.

"Ah, that's why everyone was nervous about being teamed up with you. Well, it worked out for me, I ended up passing the first time around," spoke the long haired man.

"Indeed," replied the bearded man.

"Was this the first time Yugito?" asked the kyuubi, "I would think I would remember if she appeared in more than one exam."

"Yeah, it was. She waited a few years, though. Smart move on her part. Part of my mistake was taking it within a year of my becoming a genin. Rather unwise. I might have been alright if I had an experienced team, but we were all rookies. That Yugito… she really is something else," spoke the bearded man.

"It's a shame the jinchuuriki of the other villages aren't treated as kindly," spoke the kyuubi.

"Ah, I've heard rumors about how some of the others are treated. I hear the Mizukage is one, which suggests Kiri treats them with respect. I've heard some bad rumors about the others, though. I hear yours is kept locked up at all times, am I right?" asked the bearded man of Naruto.

Naruto offered a small nod in response.

"I heard Konoha killed theirs. Suna ain't much better; they kill the jinchuuriki when the person outlives his or her usefulness, and seals their bijuu into the next available candidate. Iwa treats theirs like weapons, though, not quite on the level that Suna does. We used to be like that, until the Yondaime came to power. His brother is a jinchuuriki, and, as a result, our jinchuuriki are treated with respect. We've all learned to respect Yugito-san and Kirabi-sama. Even the old geezers who followed the teachings of the Sandaime have warmed up to them. It's a shame the other villages don't follow suit. Maybe you should tell the leader of your village, eh? It would be better if it was one of the other big five," explained the bearded man.

"We do as we need to. He needs to be kept under guard at all times, lest he try to escape," replied Naruto.

"Eh? I thought yours was a kunoichi?" asked the bearded man.

"_Damn it, I was doing so well!!" _thought Naruto.

"Tck, he always refers to 'her' as 'it.' The fact that he assigned a gender at all is amazing," spoke the kyuubi.

"Y-yeah, that's right. 'It' is a rather bothersome thing to deal with," replied Naruto.

"Ouch, that's harsh, but I'm not trying to change your outlook on life. I'm just say'in, you know? You don't have to listen," spoke the bearded man.

"It's fine, I'll take your words into consideration," spoke Naruto.

"Very well," spoke the bearded man.

"I don't suppose you know where that young lady walked off to, do you?" asked the kyuubi.

"Who? Yugito? Off to train, I suppose. She still 'lost' the fight, so she's probably working on her strategy. Probably with Kirabi-sama. Those two train together often, since they can understand each other better than anyone else ever could, excepting the Yondaime, of course," replied the bearded man.

"I would like to see their training methods," spoke Naruto.

"Would you, now? Well, since I'm curious, I guess we can go. It's a good thing I have such an interest in the shinobi arts. If not, you would miss out. You're _my_ bodyguard, after all," replied the kyuubi.

"Hai, milady," spoke Naruto.

"Ouch, you have him whipped, don't'cha?" spoke the long haired man.

Naruto grunted in response.

"You know, he ripped through a village before. You probably shouldn't try to get on his bad side," replied the kyuubi.

"Oh, I see. I'll keep that in mind," spoke the long haired man in a sarcastic tone. The man ceased grinning when a lock of his hair fell to the ground.

"Are you ready, milady?" asked Naruto.

"Oh, hai, let's get going," spoke the kyuubi, "It's been fun, gentlemen."

Naruto and the kyuubi left a grinning man with a beard and a stunned man with a new haircut. As the pair sought out the training grounds, the kyuubi bore a delighted grin on her face.

"Nice one, there. When did you learn how to do that?" asked the kyuubi.

"Something I picked up from watching Itachi," replied Naruto.

"Ah, the Uchiha. Of course. You should pass that one on to me when we have the chance," spoke the kyuubi.

"Yeah, sure," replied Naruto.

"Geez, maybe you drank a little too much. Guess that would make you an angry drunk," spoke the kyuubi.

"It's not that. I'm just pissed that the jinchuuriki here get the star treatment, while I was hunted like a wild animal," replied Naruto.

"I guess you used your own treatment as a basis for the assumption of how Taki's jinchuuriki is treated, eh?" asked the kyuubi.

"Yeah, I slipped up assuming it was a guy," replied Naruto.

"Good thing I saved you, though, that guy with the beard did appear to be quite knowledgeable," spoke the kyuubi.

"He might be trouble later on. I wouldn't want to have to deal with him," replied Naruto.

"He's just a chunin. He has the mind, but not the will to advance any further. I wouldn't worry about him," spoke the kyuubi.

"What makes you think that?" asked Naruto.

"The look in his eyes and his tone of voice. He's happy with his current life, as far as I can tell. The other one is a different story, but that might be due to him being younger. Now, where would the training grounds for this village be, I wonder?" asked the kyuubi out loud.

"Either up or below," replied Naruto.

"My thoughts exactly. If we go up, we hit the Raikage's tower. While we might luck out and stumble upon this 'Kirabi' guy up there, we wouldn't be able to take on a kage. That leaves down. There were several caves we passed on our way up. They must be in one of those. I felt some strong chakra coming out of them," spoke the kyuubi.

"Sounds good to me," replied Naruto, as the pair left the village. On their way down the mountainside, they ran into Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori.

"Oh, you three find them?" asked the kyuubi.

"We did. Both are here. I take it you heard about that as well?" asked Itachi.

"And more. We know which villages have jinchuuriki," replied the kyuubi.

"You did? From where?" asked Sasori.

"One of their shinobi. They're upfront about talking about their jinchuuriki. They're respected here, rather than hidden away as tools," replied the kyuubi.

"Interesting. Well we knew the Yondaime Mizukage was one. What about the others? Any of them kage?" asked Kisame.

"Doubtful, from the way he spoke of them," replied the kyuubi.

"They're treated as weapons in the other villages. Suna is supposedly the worse, followed by Iwa. Taki treats their jinchuuriki like a prisoner," spoke Naruto.

"Oh, Taki has one, do they? Didn't expect that," replied Kisame.

"We'll pass that on to the leader. We've seen what we need to of these two. We came for information, and we have it. Let us be on our way," spoke Sasori.

"Oh, that's it? What a buzz kill. I was hoping for some more excitement," spoke the kyuubi.

"In time. For the time being, we move quietly. When the time comes, we'll make our presence known," replied Sasori.

"I see. Very well," spoke the kyuubi.

The group took their leave of Kumo, and made best speed for the border of Kaminari no Kuni. As soon as the group was clear of the border, Naruto and the kyuubi dropped their disguises, and the group made up a camp for the night. Before going to sleep, the group made contact with Pein.

"Is your mission complete?" asked Pein.

"Hai, there are two jinchuuriki in Kumogakure. They are treated with the utmost respect. Capturing them may prove difficult," replied Sasori.

"I see. Did you learn anything else of use?" asked Pein.

"The one know as Kirabi almost exclusively uses ration no jutsu. He also appears to favor kenjutsu. The one known as Yugito uses a mix of ration and katon no jutsu, with an emphasis on ranged jutsu," replied Itachi.

"We also heard information on the locations of the other jinchuuriki," spoke Naruto.

"Did you? What did you hear?" asked Pein.

"The others are in Iwa, Taki, Kiri, and Suna," replied Naruto.

"I did not know about Taki having a jinchuuriki. I will send Zetsu to investigate. Even if it's a rumor, it would be unwise to ignore it. Good work, all of you. For the time being, look into finding ways to raise money. Kakuzu is tracking several bounties. I would suggest you do the same," spoke Pein.

"Are we to act as group?" asked Kisame.

"In your own two-man teams. The kyuubi and Naruto will remain with you for the time being, Itachi, Kisame," replied Pein.

"Understood," replied Itachi.

"I will contact you when I have a new assignment for you. Until then, be on guard, and stay within the shadows," spoke Pein, before disappearing. The others followed suit, returning to their camp. The team had a quick meal before going to sleep.

Over the next several years, Akatsuki would continue to operate in the shadows, tracking bounties and recovering information vital to their mission. The group also kept an ear open for Orochimaru's whereabouts, though they were unable to catch up to him, as he moved every time Akatsuki came close to capturing him.

In the forest beyond Konoha, the Snake Sannin took a look at his previous home.

"_This has been a long time in coming. Old man, you and that village of yours will pay for shunning my research, as well as the other 'treasure' you have,"_ thought Orochimaru, as he let a small chuckle slip from his mouth.

_A/N: Tasome can be spelled as __手__, which means hand, a reference to how he was "hands on" in his actions. Kari can be spelled as __狩__, which means hunt, a reference to his former occupation as a hunter, while his given name, Hitoshi, can be spelled as __一__, which means one, which refers to both how he has secluded himself, as well as being "one" of the few people Kakuzu harbors any form of respect towards. Thank you reading, and please leave a review._


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